The wins just keep on coming, with the Padres celebrating Independence Day with a season-best five game winning streak. Speaking of season bests, starter Eric Stults had his best game of the year, shutting out the Giants for seven innings. San Francisco only managed 4 hits and a pair of walks off the crafty lefty, while the home team hit up Matt Cain for 7 hits and 3 walks in his 6.1 innings of work.

The only runs of the afternoon came in the bottom of the third inning. Alexi Amarista launched some early fireworks, hitting his second home run of the year to right field. The recently extended Seth Smith followed up with a double in the same direction before scoring on a single by Chase Headley. After Stults finished his day, Joaquin Benoit and Huston Street took over, each tossing a perfect inning. Street retired the side in order to pick up his 23rd save of the year.

Odrisamer Despaigne will try to continue the winning streak tomorrow at 4:15 PM.

Friar Fever carried the thread on his back today with an appropriate 19 comments.

Our Padres go for their sixth straight win this afternoon as they continue their series against the visiting Giants.

Newcomer Odrisamer Despaigne takes the mound in game 2 and will try to follow up a couple of brilliant outings to begin his major league career. Over his first two ML starts, Despaigne has pitched a combined 13 2/3 innings, giving up just one earned run on nine hits, earning the win both times out. He made his debut against these Giants in San Francisco on June 23rd, pitching seven scoreless innings while allowing only four hits. His most recent appearance, against the Diamondbacks, was the first in the Padres' current five-game wining streak.

On the mound for the Giants to try to put an end to that streak will be Tim Hudson, who suffered his first home loss of the season two weeks ago when the Padres traveled to AT&T Park. Hudson comes into this contest on the verge of matching a career-worst four losses in four starts. He was a tough-luck loser his last time out after throwing eight solid innings and giving up just two runs last Sunday to the Reds, who went on to sweep the Giants.

Tune in at 4:15 to see if our Friars can extend their streak to six wins.

When baseball enters a family it almost always becomes tradition. From little league to the bigs; players from the same family have played with and against each other. Today we look at a sibling combination within our own organization, and a few from the past.

The Wright brothers, the DiMaggios, John and Ted Kennedy, Big and Little Poison, the brothers Grimm, Ramon and Pedro Martinez, the Marx brothers, the Uptons, Ben and Casey Affleck. There are plenty of brothers in history that have gone down similar successful career paths.

With a recent complete game shutout from the Padres' starter Tyson Ross, and his little brother Joe ripping up the minor leagues in Lake Elsinore; the Ross bros. are currently a powerful bloodline within the Padres organization. But which one gets to be Batman?

Now at the middle of 2014; TRoss has had 18 starts to show how lethal he really is when given a professional team that can solidify a win with at least some run support. His little brother JRoss is virtually mirrored his older sibling's talent, and in 16 starts so far has exemplified why he has recently been a top 10 prospect for the Friars for a while now.

The Lines

The talent is visible, and with similar pitching kits both players have a good reason why they're as successful as they've been this 2014 season. Both brothers keep the runs low, the strikeout average high, and are seeing plenty of starts respectively.

But the Ross brothers aren't the only family-tied players to be within the Padres organization.

The Brotherhood

1988-1989Roberto Alomar (.295), Sandy Alomar Jr (.211)
1996Tony Gwynn (.353), Chris Gwynn (.178)
2007Brian Giles (.271), Marcus Giles (.229)
2008-2009Adrian Gonzalez (.279), Edgar Gonzalez (.274)
2010Jerry Hairston (.244), Scott Hairston (.210)

Sibling Rivalry

Since 2011 Joe has been praised for his arm speed. More than any other pitching prospect in his depth. But once into 2012; shoulder tendinitis pulled JRoss out of performing into a full season, which prevented us from seeing how he would truly debut.

That following year was when big-bro Tyson starting putting up his career best numbers after leaving O.co Coliseum for the beach sands of Petco Park.  At the moment, Tyson Ross is beginning to stand out for the Padres; in the most abysmal June in Padres history he has hovered around a solid 3.18 ERA - and when backed by at least an average offense - can almost guarantee a win for the club.

In all of Tyson's 2014 starts he has only had two games where has given up more than 3 runs. Little brother Joe has more or less done the same thing this year; keeping his minor league opponents to 3 or less in his last 8 out of 10.

Creating a Family Legacy

The Ross brothers have both shown what they can do with a baseball and a lineup to support them. Both Tyson and Joe sport some seriously nasty pitches. TRoss' slider/sinker is revered as one of the most disgusting in the National League. His little brother has developed the same similarities in his breaking pitches, with a little bit of heat.

Wherever Joe and Tyson end up, they've already proven that pitching is in their blood. Whether or not we see both of them stay within the San Diego organization in 2015-2016 remains to be seen. Due to his obvious talent; the pace in which Joe is moving up the ranks is quick, but it's probably unlikely we'll get the pleasure of seeing him in the same rotation as his big bro.

Regardless, the Rossies will continue to be worth watching for plenty of seasons to come.

All winning streaks end eventually, but the Padres know how to wrap them up in spectacularly painful fashion. The offense picked up three runs tonight thanks to some clutch hitting. In games where they've scored that much, the team has been 31-10. And with almost everything in their favor, the best bullpen in baseball laid an egg. Homers allowed by Huston Street and Dale Thayer were the team's downfall, though they weren't helped by poor performances from Alex Torres and Kevin Quackenbush. The only reliever that performed to his usual standards tonight was Joaquin Benoit.

Unlike the bullpen, tonight's starter was masterful. Odrisamer Despaigne is now 3 for 3 when it comes to putting up quality starts. In six innings, he only allowed two hits. One was an infield single in the first that Hunter Pence legged out. The other was one of three home runs by the Giants. Henry Blanco took Odie to the Jack Deck in the second inning. The Friars' offense got their man off the hook in the bottom of the sixth, when a pair of singles from Brooks Conrad (we know that guy!) and Alexi Amarista put runners on first and third with no outs. Although Tommy Medica struck out looking, Seth Smith came through with a sacrifice fly to knot the game at one.

Looking to keep things tight, Torres took the mound in the seventh. He promptly walked Gregor Blanco. Blanco would take second easily when Torres threw a wild pitch to Brandon Crawford. Not that it mattered, since Crawford eventually got a free pass himself. That was enough lousy pitching for Buddy Black, who quickly called Quackenbush to get things under control. Quack retired the next three batters in order, which would have been great had he not started his outing with a balk. That turned what should have been a regular fly out by Joe Panik into an RBI sac fly.

Behind again, the offense mustered another rally after the stretch. Yasmani Grandal's one-out triple was followed immediately by a triple off the bat of Jake Goebbert. Cameron Maybin polished off the rally with a sacrifice fly to bring Goebbert home and give the Padres their first lead of the evening. With a one-run lead after 7, Black turned to eighth-inning specialist Benoit, who turned in a perfect inning. Three outs away from a six game winning streak, Street came in to pick up another save... and immediately blew it, serving a meatball up to Mike Morse, who crushed it into the left field seats.

The offense tried to summon one final rally in the bottom of the ninth. Chase Headley got things going with a leadoff double. Grandal hit a grounder to short, putting the winning run on third with just one out. The Giants didn't give Goebbert the chance to pick up another RBI, opting instead to put him on and let Maybin try his hand. The move paid off, with Maybin popping out to shortstop. With the pitcher's spot up, Carlos Quentin came to the plate. He struck out, and the game went into extras. Thayer wasn't wild about staying at work late, giving up a two-run shot to Brandon Belt in the top of the tenth. Santiago Casilla took over for the Giants, and though he walked Amarista to start the inning, he retired the next three batters in order, snapping the Padres' longest winning streak of the year.

Jesse Hahn will try to get a new streak going when he takes the mound at 1:10 PM tomorrow.

abara led the comments, but daveysapien scored 4 recs with this gem of a comment (it has 5 now, because I thought it deserved to be green).

Our Padres take on Tim Lincecum again today in the rubber game at Petco Park, and they're hoping for vastly different results from the last time they faced him. Or the last four times for that matter.

The San Diego offense has seen some improvements over their recent stretch of 5-1 ball. While they've managed to move up a spot in the standings over the past month, the Giants moved down and out of the first-place spot they inhabited for most of the season due to a 6-18 run, leading up to today's matchup. Last night's extra-inning Padres loss put an end to a three-game skid for the Giants, during which they scored only three runs.

But Lincecum has been a bright spot during their current rut. His starts were the only ones in a 12-game stretch prior to yesterday that the Giants had won. One of those was his second career no-hitter against the Padres on June 25th. He followed that up with another dominant performance against the Cardinals. He kept them to just four hits through eight scoreless frames, throwing 113 pitches with 73 going for strikes. Overall, Lincecum is 15-6 with a 2.35 ERA in 28 career starts against San Diego.

While that all bodes well for the Giants, the Padres have reason to be confident in today's series finale with Jesse Hahn on the mound. Following a troublesome major league debut at the beginning of June, Hahn has turned things around and been fantastic ever since. He's led the Friars to victory in each of his last four starts and looks to keep that streak going today and help the team lock up the series. The righty is 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA over his five starts this season. That includes a great outing against these Giants at AT&T Park on June 24th. He allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out eight batters in six innings of work. He beat that K total one start later when he faced the Reds and retired nine via strikeout, a personal best.

Make sure to tune in at 1:10 PDT to see if our Padres can take the series.

Teams were announced today and Tyson Ross will be throwing for the National League and representing your San Diego Padres

It's more than appropriate that a team with a below average record and abysmal hitting should be represented by a player who has represented the good part of the 2014 San Diego Padres.

Congrats to @TysonRoss who has been chosen to represent the #Padres in the @AllStarGame July 15 on FOX! pic.twitter.com/jO2pX4wG0d

— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) July 6, 2014

As if we need to be convinced, this is what the Padres say about him being chosen:

So far this season Ross has pitched to a 7-8 record with a 2.93 ERA (38 ER, 116.2 IP) with 111 strikeouts against 42 walks and a .228 (98-for-429) opponent batting average. Among qualifying National Leaguers he is tied for sixth in innings pitched, ranks seventh in strikeouts and has held opponents to the ninth-lowest batting average (1 inning/Team G). Entering play today, Ross has nine starts this season with 6.0-or-more innings pitched and one or fewer earned runs allowed, tied for the second-most such starts in the Majors. Additionally, he leads all qualifying Padres this year in wins, ERA, innings pitched and opponent batting average and ranks second in strikeouts.

Padres MLB Blogs

Some fun facts they also posted:

• The right-hander is the 10th starting pitcher in club history to be named an All-Star, the 12th time overall a Padres starting pitcher has been selected to the team,
• Ross joins Padres all-star pitchers Jake Peavy (2005 and 2007), Chris Young (2007), Andy Ashby (1999), Kevin Brown (1998), Andy Benes (1993), LaMarr Hoyt (1985), Dave Dravecky (1983), Gaylord Perry (1979) and Randy Jones (1975-76).
• Ross is the 16th different pitcher in Padres history to be selected to the National League All-Star team
• It's the 27th time overall a pitcher has been selected and the first since Padres closer Huston Street represented the club in 2012

Sure, the Padres lost the series against their division rival today. And sure, it was the second game in a row that the bullpen gave up the game-winning run. But on the upside, a pair of home runs from hometown boy Brooks Conrad (Have we mentioned that we know him?) and Yasmani Grandal did put our guys in the game tonight, and Jake Goebbert kept Tim Lincecum from no-hitting us for a third time. So let's focus on that, and not on losing to the Giants.

The Padres hit the road for a 7-game road trip leading up to the All-Star break, with Ian Kennedy starting against the Rockies tomorrow at 5:40 PM.

Friar Fever led the thread with 33 comments, with DCas leading recs at 2.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With a growing list of injuries to key members of lineup (Brett Lawrie on the disabled list, Edwin Encarnacion probably going to be placed there, and Adam Lind not being able to run or field really) and a recent disappearance of any offensive power, the Blue Jays are looking to everyone and anyone for help even to those with a broken back.

On Sunday, Jon Morosi reported that the Blue Jays and the Padres have continued to chat about third baseman Chase Headley while this morning someone named Ollie Connolly (real name?) reported that a source told him that the two teams are actually "closing in" on a trade.

Blue Jays closing in on Chase Headley http://t.co/NDAN7UdMlK

— Ollie Connolly (@OllieUKEZ) July 7, 2014

Whether Connolly's report is credible or not I think we can use this chance to re-assess whether the hobbling Padre would be a good fit for the club.

Chase Headley is having a down year: through 263 plate appearances, he is batting .217/.297/.332 with a wRC+ (remember, that's park-adjusted) of 84--that's Matt Dominguez level. This is coming from someone who has been quite above-average at the plate for the past few seasons (including an incredible 145 wRC+ score in 2012).

What is promising is that his strikeout rate (23.6%) is not out of whack compared to his career rate (22.7%), and a close look at his plate discipline shows that it isn't what has been ailing him. His batted ball profile also looks pretty close to career norms (with his HR/FB ratio regressing back to the mean from the insane 21.4% of 2012).

What does look out of place is a fall off in infield hits (4.3% career to 2.8% this year) and FanGraphs' Speed Score (4.2 career to 2.9 this year). These factors (plus the good ol' Luck Dragons) are likely responsible for Headley's .268 BABIP this year (compared to his career mark of .330).

Headley was suffering from knee pain in 2013 and went for surgery to repair a torn meniscus immediately after the end of the season. After recovering from the surgery, he was sidelined with a strained calf and started spring training on crutches. And most recently--and perhaps most seriously--Headley received an epidural to calm down a herniated disk in his lower back.

These ailments (and whatever else hasn't been announced) aren't just signs of a risk that he could miss time going forward, but that we might not enjoy seeing his BABIP regress fully to his career mean. Now, in the 11 games since his epidural shot, Headley has bounced back to hit .300/.365/.325 (.387 BABIP) and had a 4-for-4 game on Independence Day, so maybe the he was injected with a vial of panacea mistakenly labelled as epidural. Now I'm not a doctor so I can't say whether that panacea wears off upon contact with artificial turf.

Over his career, the switch-hitting Headley is weaker hitting left-handed pitchers, but his .255/.320/.402 mark is an improvement over Juan Francisco's splits (go look for yourself if you want to). And on the other side of the game, Headley offers solid defense, which (at least by the numbers) have not fallen off this year. Despite that hitting line, his defense has given Headley 0.9 WAR.

Chase Headley, 30, is entering free agency for the first time after 2014, and is making $10,525,000 this season, of which the Padres have already paid for a little over half of. The other two options the Blue Jays have been linked to, Martin Prado and Aaron Hill, are both signed through 2016.

Looking at these points, I think Headley is a good match for the 2014 Blue Jays. The amount he's owed for the rest of the year, his struggles so far, and his injury risk, means that he can likely be picked up for a relative bargain. The Blue Jays just have to convince the Padres that they really don't want to offer him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He can test out he waters (and turf) in Toronto for the rest of the season and both he and the team will have flexibility going forward, unlike with the Hill and Prado contracts. Of course, other teams are probably interested in Headley for the same reasons as the Blue Jays, so if Toronto is close, I think they should strike.

Two respected publications updated their top 50 prospects lists today. You'll like what they had to say.

Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus released their mid-season Top 50 Prospects List today and to no one's surprise, the Cubs dominated both lists.

Baseball America's list, which you can read here, had three Cubs prospects among the top seven. Kris Bryant was ranked as the no. 2 prospect. Addison Russell checked in at no. 5 and Javier Baez was no.7. In addition, Arismendy Alcantara was listed as no.33.

Players currently in the major leagues and 2014 draft picks were ineligible for the list. So don't ask where Kyle Schwarber ranked. He wasn't eligible for the list.

Baseball Prospectus ranked the Cubs system even higher. Both lists still have Twins outfielder Byron Buxton as the top prospect, but Prospectus ranked Astros shortstop Carlos Correa ahead of Bryant. But then they rank Baez at number 5, which is just barely ahead of Russell, who they believe is the sixth-best prospect in baseball.

But Baseball Prospectus is even higher on Alcantara than BA is, ranking Alcantara as the no. 18 prospect in the game. In particular, they praise his rare combination of power, speed and defense. The Cubs put a fifth player on the Prospectus list, with Albert Almora checking in at no. 37.

Schwarber was also not eligible for this list, but in a postscript, they added that if they had ranked him, he would probably rank right behind Padres OF Hunter Renfroe, who was the no. 44 player on their list.

The Baseball Prospectus list is for subscribers only, but if you're a subscriber, you can read the list and scouting reports here.

Both publications consider the Cubs to have the best farm system in the majors after acquiring Addison Russell and Billy McKinney.

While the results on the major league level have not been what we would all have liked, I think it is fair to say that the Cubs minor league system has never been stronger. Ever.

After a daunting stretch that saw them play 30 consecutive games against teams with winning records, a Rockies team that is starting to get healthy might have a realistic shot at winning a home series for the first time in almost two months.

The Rockies just finished up one of the most difficult stretches in recent memory, in terms of their schedule and results. Colorado went 9-21 in that stretch, falling from a near-.500 club to one that is just a couple of losses away from being the worst team in the league. The team finally gets a little bit of relief beginning on Monday when the 39-49 Padres come to town.

Colorado 4-3 against San Diego this year, including a 2-1 series victory in mid-May that was their last at Coors Field. Since Justin Morneau's walk-off home run against Dale Thayer to cap that three-game set, the Rox are a woeful 6-16-1 at 20th and Blake. That kind of performance can lead to some serious anger, and sure enough, we're now being subject to daily conversation about how the Rockies should trade their two star players.

Hopefully a swing in the schedule, along with some improved health, will change things at least a little bit. The Rockies have six home games against sub-.500 squads starting tonight, but that doesn't necessarily mean six wins are in order. The Padres, for one, are playing decent ball since the firing of former general manager Josh Byrnes, winning seven out of 10 before a pair of weekend losses to the Giants. They've been carried by a former Rockies slugger, an impressive rookie pitcher (Jesse Hahn, who the Rockies fortunately won't see in this series), and a late-game bullpen duo that is among the best in the game.

Here's what to watch for from the Friars:

Mr. Late Night is pretty much Mr. All Day now

Seth Smith is the best offensively player the Padres have to offer, hitting a robust .273/.373/.490, which is good for a career-high 150 OPS+. Smith probably deserved an All-Star bid over current Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, but hey -- we're not complaining. What's perhaps most impressive about Smith is that he is playing slightly above-average outfield defense in a fairly cavernous park, and for that, he certainly deserves kudos. The Padres recently gave him just that, in the form of a two-year, $13 million contract extension.

As for this series, Smith obviously is a big-time hitter at Coors Field, posting a career line of .299/.372/.573 at altitude. However, he'll see a left-handed starters in each of the first two games of the series, and Smith is a lifetime .199/.276/.313 hitter against southpaws. Quite the interesting predicament, indeed.

The token All-Star

OK, you're right -- that's not exactly fair. But Tyson Ross' 116 ERA+ doesn't exactly scream All-Star. And, for wins-losses purists, neither does his 7-8 record. That doesn't mean the man can't pitch. Ross owns a 2.93 ERA and has whiffed 111 batters in 116⅔ innings. The 27-year-old's numbers don't appear to be a fluke, either, as he's posted the exact same peripherals that he did in his 3.17 ERA campaign a year ago.

Ross has flummoxed the Rockies, boasting a 2.75 ERA in five appearances. He's made only one start at Coors Field, and it wasn't a good one. He allowed three runs on three hits and four walks in only four innings on April 6, 2013. In all fairness to Ross, that was basically a lifetime ago.

Whatever you do, don't let them get a lead

The Padres have a woeful offense, but in the event that they score enough runs to get a lead into the eighth inning in this series, the Rockies will probably be screwed. That's because Joaquin Benoit and Huston Street make up perhaps the best late-inning duo in the majors. Benoit, who serves as the setup man, has struck out 41 batters and walked only seven in 36⅔ innings. He has given up hits at a rate of fewer than one every two innings and has serve up only one home run all year. That's dominance.

Speaking of dominance, Street -- another former Rockie -- has achieved just that, regaining his 2009 form by whiffing more than a batter per inning while racking up 23 saves. Like Benoit, Street rarely issues walks, so batters generally need to put in work to have any shot of success. Problem is, the 30-year-old right-hander has given up only 18 hits in 32 innings. Also, how the hell is he only 30? Baseball, man ... it's crazy.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.

Probable pitchers

Game 1: Monday, July 7 at 6:40 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)

Ian Kennedy vs. Tyler Matzek

Game 2: Tuesday, July 8 at 6:40 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports)

Tyson Ross vs. Franklin Morales

Game 3: Wednesday, July 9 at 1:10 p.m. MT (no TV)

Eric Stults vs. Jair Jurrjens

After dropping the series to the Giants, our Padres are on the road again for the final stretch before the All Star Break. Tonight they face another NL West rival as they begin a three-game set in Colorado.

Ian Kennedy gets the ball in game 1, coming off a great outing against the Reds. He kept them to one run in six innings of work to earn the win, helping the Padres to a series sweep. Prior to that, Kennedy had gone 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA over four starts. He is also 0-3 in his last five against the Rockies, although he posted a respectable 2.61 ERA in those outings. One of those took place earlier this season, when he gave up three runs in seven innings of a 3-1 loss at Petco Park.

IPK will be going against Rockies Rookie Tyler Matzek. Colorado's pitching staff has been hindering it's success lately, so the team will look to Matzek to try to put an end to the bleeding. He'll need more help than he's been getting lately, however. After winning his major league debut on June 11th, the Rockies have lost each of his outings since. The young southpaw is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in that stretch.

Padres and Rockies take the field tonight at 5:40 PDT.

The Jays are looking for infield help, and Headley is available on the trade market.

The Padres and Blue Jays are engaged in "ongoing" discussions about a trade involving Chase Headley, according to a report from Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com. It is unclear how serious the discussions are, but the Jays are clearly prioritizing adding infield help with Headley in mind as a top target.

Headley, 30, is hitting .217 with 6 HR and 25 RBI in 67 games with the Padres this season. Despite his offensive struggles, he has drawn significant trade interest from the Yankees and Jays, and is expected to be one of the Padres who is dealt before the trade deadline.

Toronto, who is intensifying their pursuit of infield help following the injury to Edwin Encarnacion, has been linked to Headley and Diamondbacks Martin Prado and Aaron Hill in recent days. The club is known to be looking for upgrades over Munenori Kawasaki and Juan Francisco while Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie rehab from injuries.

In eight seasons with the Padres, Headley is a lifetime .265 hitter with 86 HR and 394 RBI. His best season came in 2012, when he hit .286 with 31 HR and 115 RBI in 161 games.

Kennedy and Chase Headley would combine to win solidly in the series opener.

Through the first 3 innings, Ian Kennedy looked locked in. That should not come as much of a surprise to those that have followed Kennedy over the years. He has a career 2.88 ERA against the Rockies and a 3.56 ERA at Coors Field. He is practically a Coors Field specialist when you consider how many pitchers struggle at that park. Over those initial 3 frames Kennedy only gave up one hit (which was erased by a doubly play) and struck out 4. In the bottom of the 4th, after being staked to a 1-0 lead by a bases loaded Brooks Conrad sacrifice fly that scored Chase Headley, Kennedy gave up a Drew Stubbs solo shot on a liner to left to tie the game and be a tiny hiccup in what would still be an excellent performance.

From there the game proceeded to continue at a very un-Coors-Field-like pace. There were thunderstorms on the way (you could even see them flash beyond the CF wall on the telecast), but the air was dry and the temperatures high during the game so nothing should have been out of the ordinary. There were some minor threats in the 5th, but the next scoring did not come until the 6th and it went well for the Friars. Three doubles led to two more plated Padres. Tommy Medica doubled first then scored on Rene Rivera's two bagger. Rivera then came across when Cameron Maybin hit a 2 out ground rule double that the CF and RF misjudged.

If there was any worry that the Rockies would retaliate with runs of their own again, then it was erased once Kennedy whiffed all 3 batters, Stubbs, Morneau and and recently elected All Star starter Troy Tulowitzki, in the bottom of the 6th. The next inning began with the winds whipping harder and those flashes getting closer. Each inning the current lead got held seemed like it had the potential to seal the win if the rain began to pour and lightning began to strike. However, the Padres would do better than just hold the lead. A leadoff walk to the man fresh off fanning the side and a single by Chris Denorfia set up a Headley to drive in both on a triple off the top of the RF wall (that Dick Enberg called a home run, then a double). Headley would later score again on a sac fly, this time by Carlos Quentin. Headley would finish the night 4 for 5 with 3 singles, the triple, the 2 RBI and the 2 runs scored.

Kennedy would pick up right where he left off. The first two batters he faced in the 7th went down on strikes. The third batter would finally put a ball in play, but was out nonetheless. Kennedy looked firmly locked in again. However, his night would come to an end as the rain came in. The tarp came onto the field and the Padres were in the drivers seat for either a rain out win or to have the bullpen hold a 6-1 lead after a delay. As it would turn out the rain resulted in a 1 hour delay. The Padres would come back with Kevin Quackenbush and Tim Stauffer to hold the Rockies to a solitary run and give the Friars a series opening victory.

jodes was the comment champion, edging out abara by one. She fell short of the rec crown, however; usupadres beat her 3-2.

There was a weird moment in the Padres-Rockies game tonight when Chase Headley got something in his eye.

There was a delay in gameplay tonight during the Padres-Rockies game at Coors field. No, I'm not talking about the 56-minute rain delay. What I'm referring to is the roughly two-minute eye delay in the bottom of the 8th.

At first Dick Enberg stated that there was something wrong with Headley's contact lens. The camera panned to Headley, who was rubbing his eye and motioning to the dugout. Soon, Padres athletic trainer Todd "Hutch" Hutcheson and assistant athletic trainer Paul Navarro came out to tend to Headley's eye. It wasn't a contact lens problem after all; something had gotten in Headley's eye and it needed to be removed. And WG bless the camera operators, they got us a nice, close view of all the eye-cleaning action.

Props to Hutch and Navarro for getting that done quickly and effectively. Not only did it elicit applause from the guys in the dugout...

... but it also got the crowd to rise for a standing ovation.

Chase also went 4-for-5 on the night with two RBI and two runs scored, raising his season average to a whopping .229. It was the second four-hit night for our third baseman in his last four games. That, too, deserves a thundering round of applause (see what I did there?).

Jake Peavy could be dealt soon, and it appears that the Cardinals and Braves have emerged as the frontrunners to land the veteran right-hander.

Earlier today, it was reported that the St. Louis Cardinals were heavily pursuing a trade for Boston Red Sox' right-hander Jake Peavy. Now, it appears that the Atlanta Braves have been added to the mix to acquire the veteran starter, as reported by Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

The Braves' rotation has been hamstrung by injuries this season, as Mike Minor started the year on the DL, Gavin Floydwas recently lost to season-ending elbow surgery, and both Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen are recovering from Tommy John. The club's rotation has still managed to survive quite well, with the staff currently holding a 3.25 ERA that ranks fifth in the majors, and a 3.52 FIP that is fourth. Still, Atlanta could use another starter, as Minor has struggled and both Aaron Harang and Ervin Santana have pitched poorly after getting off to blistering starts.

This also isn't the first time Atlanta has attempted to add Peavy. In the offseason following the 2008 season, the Padres and Braves nearly consumnated a deal that would have sent the 2007 Cy Young award winner to Atlanta for a bundle of prospects. However, the deal fell through at the last minute. Peavy was ultimately dealt to the White Sox at the 2009 trade deadline.

The Cardinals' rotation has been dealt numerous blows in recent days, as they have seen injuries to Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia thin out their rotation. The Cardinals also match up well with the Red Sox considering they have a number of outfielders that could be deemed expendable by the club. While the highly regarded Oscar Taveras probably isn't attainable, St. Louis could include someone such as Allen Craig, Randal Grichuk, or Stephen Piscotty. Craig and Grichuk are both not playing today, though that could very well just be coincidence.

The 33-year-old Peavy has struggled this season, posting a 4.64 ERA and 4.81 FIP in 110.2 innings after averaging a 3.3 WAR from 2011 to 2013. Both his xFIP (4.46) and K/9 (6.83) are career-worsts, while his BB/9 (3.42) is his highest since his first full season in 2003. A move back to the National League could do plenty to rejuvenate the former Cy Young winner's career.

Peavy has roughly $6.4 million remaining on his $14.5 million salary, and is scheduled to become a free agent this fall. He carries a $15 million vesting option for 2015 based on innings pitched, though it is highly unlikely that he qualifies for it (he would need to pitch roughly 145 innings over the rest of the season).

Musical Chairs with two levels of minor league ball affected...

The Angels promoted relief pitcher Cam Bedrosian from AA Arkansas to the big club toady, making room for him by sending 3B Grant Green to AAA Salt Lake.

Green is still young enough to need developmental playing time at the hot corner but seeing as this is July and he has a hit tool to show off in regular playing time, this could be a move by the club to audition him to the Padres as trade material for Huston Street. A guy can dream, can't he?

The odd timing of this comes as 3B David Freese has been getting some pine despite a recent hot streak. John MCDonald, a veteran's veteran and 25th man, will be at the hot corner tonight.

Bedrosian headed back to Double A on June 20 after a mediocre debut stint in the big leagues. He has since been used very sparingly by the Travellers, an indicator that he might be needed at any time. With the Angels overworked pen, it is of note that Michael Kohn did not get the call.

Bedrosian has made five appearances beginning on June 22 and most recently on July 5. He has allowed one run. That came in a June 27 outing where he walked a batter and gave up a hit but also stuck out three batters. That is the only hit he allowed since his return to the minors. He walked a total of three batters and struck out five in five IP. Each of his five appearances were one inning.

It's been a pretty good week for Tyson Ross. First he threw his first career complete game, a three-hit shutout win over the Reds last Wednesday. Then a few days later he found out he is the Padres' 2014 All Star. Tonight he gets a chance to help secure a series win for our Padres against the NL West rival Rockies at Coors Field.

Ross looks to get a win streak going for San Diego following their 6-1 victory in last night's series opener. Coming off the high of his aforementioned outing against the Reds, in which he matched a career-high nine strikeouts while issuing no walks. Prior to that he had gone 0-4 with a 3.94 ERA over five starts, though was undeniably a victim of a stingy offense - he received only one run of support during that five-game stretch. That was also his problem in 2013 when he made three starts against the Rockies. He couldn't pick up a win despite a 2.76 ERA in those games while keeping batters to a .190 average.

Hopefully he gets more support this time around. Our Friars have won six of their last eight games, securing themselves pretty firmly in the third place spot in the NL West. Tonight they'll face Franklin Morales, who is making his second start since rejoining the Rockies rotation. Morales is winless (0-3) in his last seven starts, dating back to May. But he earned the win against our Padres at Petco Park in April, pitching six innings of one-run ball in his first time facing the team since 2007.

Don't miss out when our All Star takes the mound tonight. Game time is set for 5:40 PDT.

And don't forget to check out today's SB Nation Fantasy Baseball league on FanDuel. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. There's also an MLB Squeeze (Late Night) league with a first prize of $1,200. You can join at this link.

Tyson Ross put the team on his back, but somehow the Padres' insatiable craving to score as few runs as possible followed us up a mile high.

This is not the type of score you usually see from a night in Denver, Colorado. Being 1,600 meters above sea level with low air density has gained Coors Field a reputation for high scoring games. Going into the series the Padres are touting a top five pitching staff (a collective 3.21 ERA), and the Rockies holding a top five hitting club (.280 AVG); a cliche unstoppable force-immovable object dilemma.

For the Rockies, it didn't take much to prove that any hitting at all is better than no hitting. In a stadium with the highest run factor (1.382) and the fourth highest HR factor (1.237), and despite getting more hits than the Rockies (8 to 7) the Friars left 9 men on base and went 0-8 with runners in scoring position. Tyson Ross went six solid innings striking out 6, giving up 6 hits and only two earned runs.

Hear that? That's the sound of Ross hitting the 15-day DL due to back pain.

Not to be the one to let our boy down, Chris Denorfia, although in vain, went 3-for-5 today. Hitting leadoff and accounting for at least a third of the team's hits; Denosaur started off with a double, followed with a single,and peppered in another single before recording the final line-drive out of the game. Rene Rivera also tried to claw the Padres back into the game by utterly abusing a baseball into the left field stands.

One is the loneliest number. But at least Rene looked damn good.

The Friars are going to try to not do that again tomorrow. With Eric Stults taking the mound against Jair "Jar Jar" Jurrjens. Jair (is that really his name?) barely went 4 innings against the Dodgers, giving up 12 hits, 8 earned runs, and two home runs. His current ERA is sitting at 15.43, so let's hope that leads to another run-happy game for San Diego in the mile-high stadium.

You guys really came out in full force for this nail-biter of a game. I was at work, what were your excuses? usapadres got 2 recs comparing today's game to the nightmare that Brazil dealt with today.7-1, holy bajeezus.

I have always been fascinated by middle names and infielders, and the 1990s is my favorite era of Padres baseball, so I looked up every infielder who played for the Padres between 1990 and 1999, and then...

Okay, that's not why I did this. I couldn't care less what Jeff Gardner's middle name is (it's not like I need to come up with any nicknames for him at this point), but some valued commenter said I already wrote this, and I thought it might be a nice gesture to make that dream come true for him. I'm all about giving the people what they want.

George Alberto Arias

Carlos Obed Baerga

Kenneth Gene Caminiti
Angelo Dominic Cianfrocco
Jack Anthony Clark
Scott Robert Coolbaugh
Jose Manuel Cora

Paul Tyrrell Faries
Octavio Antonio Fernandez

Carlos Jesus Garcia
Jeffrey Scott Gardner
Edward Thomas Giovanola
Christopher Cory Gomez

Kevin Wayne Higgins
Ray Arthur Holbert
Jack Robert Howell
Timothy James Hyers

Damian Jacques Jackson
Wallace Keith Joyner

Derrek Leon Lee
James Joseph Leyritz
Scott Louis Livingston
Keith Virgil Lockhart
Luis Manuel Lopez

David Joseph Magadan
Frederick Stanley McGriff
Jose Manuel Mota

Phillip Joseph Nevin
David Matthew Newhan

Michael Timothy Pagliarulo
Roberto Antonio Petagine
James Arthur Presley

Jody Eric Reed
Leon Joseph Roberts

Andrew Mark Sheets
Gary Antonian Sheffield
Craig Barry Shipley
Terrance Darnell Shumpert
David Alan Staton
Phillip Raymond Stephenson
Kurt Andrew Stillwell

James Ray Tatum
Garry Lewis Templeton
Timothy Shawn Teufel
Jason Michael Thompson

Jorge Luis Velandia
Quilvio Alberto Veras

Edward Laquan Williams

• Roberto Alomar, Guillermo Velasquez, Andujar Cedeno, and Ricardo Gutierrez don't (didn't, in the case of Cedeno) need middle names to have a good time.
• Joseph beat Manuel for the lead, four guys to three. Hey at least they didn't get stuck with Joseph for a first name. 'Til the day I die, at least one person every day will ask me where I'm goin' with that gun in my hand. Funny stuff, you guys.

This is a very good thing

The Yankees have already acquired a new pitcher in Brandon McCarthy, but with an unproven option like Shane Greene in the rotation, it's not crazy to think that Brian Cashman is still looking for a way to add another starter. The Phillies are expected to be sellers at the deadline, and while Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett are more likely to be dealt, the Yankees could target Cole Hamels in a potential deal.

Hamels still has $90 million owed to him over the next four years, so the Phillies really don't have a reason to trade him just yet, but if he were suddenly put on the market, the Yankees would have at least one advantage working for them. The lefty ace has a 20-team no-trade clause and it appears that the Yankees are not on it:

Cole Hamels can be traded to LAD, LAA, STL, WAS, ATL, NYY, BOS, TEX, SD without his permission, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 8, 2014

If we go through these nine teams, it's unlikely that the Red Sox, Rangers or Padres will look to acquire him this year as all three are likely out of contention for the 2014 season. If, and that's still a very big IF, the Phillies do put him on the trading block, the Yankees only have to compete with five other teams, and while most of them could offer better prospects, New York can eat more money off his contract. I would trade any prospect the Yankees currently had in their system if it got them a 30-year-old Cole Hamels. Imagine a rotation of Tanaka, Hamels, Kuroda, Pineda, whoever. Keep in mind, though, that he'll more than likely stay in Philadelphia for a little while longer.