Bud Black interview with Darren Smith (MP3)
- Last night's win was one of the the best of the season "no doubt about it".
- The bullpen probably thought they had the night off. Sometimes when a starter is cruising, the bullpen may mentally check out. Black is careful to say that he's not talking about the Phillies bullpen.
- Black moved Chase Headley into the 4 spot of the line up to give him a different look. It was an attempt to break him out of his offensive funk. He doesn't know if it had any impact on the 2 hits that Chase got last night. It sometimes gives a player a different perspective on the game.
- Black is a little bummed that the Padres weren't able to take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers. He's real happy with yesterday's come back win, it was looking really bleak going into the 9th.
- Clayton Richard felt fine warming up in the bullpen prior to exiting the game after 2 pitches on Friday. Clayton is on the disabled list until his joint calms down. They'll keep their eye on him for the next 10 days.
- Black says they are going to pitch Robbie Erlin on Wednesday. Tyson Ross doesn't have the stamina right now to throw 100 pitches. Tim Stauffer just threw 70 pitches the other day and they want to have him for long relief. They like the way Erlin threw against the Blue Jays. They want to have a lefty pitch against the Phillies.
- Jedd Gyorko is on a flight to San Antonio. He's going to play two games on Wednesday and Thursday. He'll join the team on Friday in Florida, hopefully.
- It's a fair question if Black will use Huston Street differently. He has the best percentage in baseball when the team has the lead. He needs to work on hitting his spots and pitch selection. He's been giving up a lot of home runs. Luke Gregerson and Dale Thayer haven't had "crisp stuff" since May. They need consistency out of all three of those guys.
- Huston Street may not pitch tonight. He's been used a lot recently. "When you win games, your best guys pitch."
- Kyle Blanks is here to stay at this point. He's performing and playing pretty much every day. "He's doing all the things a Padres player needs to do right now."-Bud Black on Kyle Blanks
The Padres have some decisions to make when Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko, Everth Cabrera and Cameron Maybin come back. - The coaching staff is going to talk about moving Andrew Cashner back a start to give him some extra rest.
- John Baker knows the Padres signs and plays. They had to change their signs when the Dodgers picked him up.