Location: San Diego, Calif. | Ballpark: PETCO Park (42,685) | Spring Training: Peoria, Ariz.
Owner: John Moores | GM: Kevin Towers | Manager: Bud Black | World Championships: 0
In the past week, 24 percent of the 25-man roster has been changed. Yes, six of the 25 spots.
Out -- Center fielder Jim Edmonds (released), left-handed relief pitchers Joe Thatcher and Glendon Rusch (outrighted to Triple-A Portland), right-handed reliever Kevin Cameron (disabled list with an elbow strain), catcher Colt Morton (returned to Double-A San Antonio) and infielder Callix Crabbe (designated for assignment).
In -- Outfielder Jody Gerut (from Portland), catcher Luke Carlin (Portland), left-handed starting pitcher Shawn Estes (Portland), left-handed reliever Sean Henn (waiver claim from the Yankees) and right-handed reliever Bryan Corey (trade from Boston) plus an infielder (probably Edgar Gonzalez from Portland) who will join the Padres before they open a seven-game trip in Chicago tonight.
The real rush started Friday afternoon with the release of Edmonds. Within 48 hours, the Padres had made major changes in the bullpen -- two in, two out -- and upgraded the role of left-hander Wil Ledezma while moving Estes into the rotation at the No. 5 slot formerly held by Justin Germano (who is now the long man in the bullpen).
Both Rusch (1-2, 6.41 ERA in 12 appearances) and Thatcher (0-4, 6.75 ERA in 16 appearances) were failing in their roles, leading to the acquisition of Henn and Corey, who closed out Sunday afternoon's 6-1 victory over Colorado at Petco Park.
Both Gerut and Carlin were pressed into service as soon as they arrived in San Diego.
Gerut started all three games over the weekend against Colorado. And Carlin caught Saturday and Sunday with some dramatic results.
On Saturday night, Carlin caught Greg Maddux's 350th career win in his major league debut, the game ending with Carlin catching the 530th save by Trevor Hoffman. On Sunday, Carlin collected his first major league hit -- a double -- and threw out the' Rockies Jonathan Herrera. If that doesn't sound like much, 56 straight runners had successfully swiped a base when Chris Young was pitching before Carlin nailed Herrera.
"Getting that hit was awesome, but I don't think anything can add up to catching Maddux's 350th win plus Hoffman," said Carlin. "I was really blessed.
"When Trevor Hoffman was coming in, I turned around to (plate umpire) Ed Hickox and said: 'Can you believe this is my first game in the major leagues and I'm catching two Hall of Famers.'
"I couldn't have asked for a better story. It was special. It took most of the night for me to settle down."
Not even his first major league hit, an eighth-inning double, could top the events of the previous night.
PADRES 6, ROCKIES 1: The Padres won two straight games for the first time since April 13-15 and claimed their first series win after eight straight series losses -- during a 4-18 run that ended with Saturday night's 3-2 win over the Rockies. Scott Hairston broke up a 0-0 tie with a solo homer in the fifth and the Padres scored three more runs in the sixth, the last two on Khalil Greene's first homer of the season at Petco Park. Chris Young allowed one run on five hits over six-plus innings to even his record at 3-3.
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