Performance Puzzles Bochy

[riverdunesrat]

.....and the rest of us. I always have to chuckle when Bochy does interviews as he always states the obvious.....

Bochy

Notes: Performance puzzles Bochy
08/28/2005 5:01 PM ET
By Lyle Spencer / MLB.com

SAN DIEGO -- Manager Bruce Bochy's win two, lose two Padres are a 2005 answer to Hoyt Wilhelm's bread-and-butter knuckler: baffling.
With their quirky, unpredictable nature, the Friars are taking Bochy back to a time a quarter-century ago when he was trying to handle Joe Niekro's knucklers as an Astros catcher.

"Yeah, it's been puzzling," Bochy said before Sunday's series finale against the Rockies at PETCO Park. "At times, it looks like we're clicking offensively -- then, out of nowhere, we have a tough time scoring runs.

"It does baffle you to be shut down as much as we have. We're a better hitting club than we've shown -- especially here at home. We've been shut down a lot more than I'd have expected with the weapons we have."

Taking consecutive series from the Braves in Atlanta and Houston at home, the Padres appeared on the verge of breaking loose and opening up distance on their rivals in the National League West.

They'd scored 32 runs in six games, winning four. Among their victims was the great Roger Clemens, who gave up a season-high two runs on the road in getting outdueled by Jake Peavy.

With the Rockies in town for the weekend -- the Padres having extended their division lead to 6 1/2 games over the Diamondbacks and Dodgers -- the only fireworks were provided by the visitors.

Winning their fourth consecutive road series, the Rockies won behind lefty Jeff Francis and right-hander Sunny Kim, putting the onus on former Rockies ace Pedro Astacio -- the Padres' most consistent starter after Peavy lately -- to prevent a sweep Sunday against Jamey Wright.

"It's fair to say we lack power," Bochy said. "If you lack power, you need to string hits together. If you don't have power and you don't string hits together, this is what happens.

"We had some pretty good at-bats against top right-handers on the road trip. We've had a tough time scoring runs against pitchers you think you're going to have some success against. It's the nature of the game."

Only the Pirates, Giants and Nationals have scored fewer runs in the league than the Padres, who are also 13th in homers and next to last in doubles.

"It doesn't matter who's on the mound," Bochy said. "If they're on top of their game, you're going to have trouble. [Mark] Loretta was saying the guy [Kim] we faced [Saturday night] was one of the toughest pitchers he's seen.

"You can't take anything for granted in this game."

Waiting on Klesko: Bochy found Ryan Klesko's two hits in four at-bats with an RBI on Saturday night encouraging. Turning him loose on a 3-0 pitch in the first inning Sunday against Wright, Klesko stroked a single to center to cash in Dave Roberts.

Bochy is eagerly anticipating Klesko's eye-popping home run displays in batting practice to carry over into games.

"He's been hitting some bombs in BP," Bochy said of the club leader with 16 homers. "You see that, and it's hard to imagine he'd go so long without a home run. He's one guy who can hit a ball out of any ballpark."

Through Saturday, Klesko had gone 90 at-bats between homers, dating back to July 16 at PETCO Park against the Diamondbacks' Claudio Vargas.

Klesko has had 10 multi-RBI games -- the same number as Khalil Greene and Xavier Nady. Brian Giles leads the club with 15.

In 53 August at-bats through Saturday, Klesko was batting .189 with a .264 slugging percentage. He has had two multihit games since July 23.

Depleted reserves: Carrying 13 pitchers with the return of Adam Eaton to the starting rotation has left Bochy with only four position players to maneuver in the late innings.

On Sunday, with Mark Sweeney replacing Nady at first base, Robert Fick was the lone lefty swinger on the bench, with Nady, Eric Young and Wilson Valdez available from the right side.

"We're a little short-handed," Bochy said, anticipating a roster move in the next few days. "We don't need to go with 13 pitchers. The one guy with options is [Clay] Hensley, and he's been pitching so well [that we don't] want to send him down."

Bochy reluctantly shipped third catcher David Ross to Triple-A Portland with the understanding that Ross would return when rosters expand on Sept. 1.

Other likely callups include right-handed-hitting outfielder Ben Johnson, lefty Paul McAnulty, who plays first and the outfield, third baseman Sean Burroughs and lefty Craig Breslow for the bullpen. All four have been with the club during the season. Burroughs was the regular third baseman before the acquisition of Joe Randa from the Reds.

On deck: Veteran right-hander Woody Williams (6-10, 5.14 ERA) will face Russ Ortiz (4-8, 6.95 ERA) in Monday night's opener of a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at PETCO Park. Williams is 1-0 this season and 5-4 in his career against Arizona. The Padres beat Ortiz on May 24 in Phoenix when he gave up four runs in six innings.

"It's a very, very important game," Bochy said. "Woody's the type of guy you want out there. He competes so well, and he has a lot of experience pitching in these type games."

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Kingdom]

Obviously.

[padrefanforever]

One of these days he's going to call out his players publically, since he never has before, and rail them for playing like complete shit. I'm a Jackson fan, but if that guy makes another error on a routine play, I might go insane........ thank god Kahlil is coming back this week.........ugh at starting our bench players more than our starters