yagsy
04-28-2005, 02:03 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20050428-9999-1s28padres.html
Bochy: 'As bad as it gets'
Manager blows up after Padres end 1-5 trip with 'pathetic' loss to Giants
By Bill Center
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2005
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050428/images/padres.jpg
ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press
Bruce Bochy and Ramon Hernandez keep their hands warm during a pitching change with the Padres down 10-1 in the seventh.
SAN FRANCISCO – Bruce Bochy had seen enough.
"It is hard to put together a game as bad as we did today," the Padres manager said yesterday in the bowels of SBC Park after his club had been humiliated and embarrassed in a 10-3 loss to the Giants that ended a 1-5 road trip.
"There was absolutely no excuse for that. We were just horrible today. That is pathetic baseball. That is as bad a game as we've had.
"We've played some ugly games, but that's as bad as it gets. We are breaking down in all facets. It starts on defense. But there are days when the pitching is not there. The hitting is not there.
"Our defense was one of our strengths last year, and it has hurt us to this point. No excuse. We're a better ballclub . . . "
Bochy was speaking shortly after emerging from a 15-minute, closed-door meeting with his players. Meeting? More like an old-fashioned dressing down.
Few times in his 11 seasons as the Padres' field boss has Bochy been more emphatic about the poor play of his team. And there have been some bad Padres teams and games during his tenure.
But the past two days in San Francisco have resembled a total meltdown.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050428/images/slide.jpg
ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press
Jason Ellison scores one of his three runs as Phil Nevin's wild throw gets past Ramon Hernandez in the sixth.
"Not acceptable," first baseman Phil Nevin said. "We were missing signs and defensive alignments. There was miscommunication on bunts."
Mental errors compounded by physical errors – of which there were five over a nine-inning span in the past two games, leading to five unearned runs.
And if you don't want to focus on the errors, try pitching and hitting.
Pitching: Right-hander Tim Redding yesterday extended the curse of the No. 5 spot in the rotation, giving up a three-run homer to Pedro Feliz in a six-run fourth that was capped by his two-run throwing error.
Hitting: In the last two games, the Padres were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
The Padres return home to play vastly improved Arizona in a three-game series starting tomorrow followed by three more against Colorado, which stands last in the NL West.
The Padres can't afford to continue their struggles at home. Sixteen of their next 22 games are on the road, with the first three at St. Louis, where the Padres traditionally struggle.
"The good news is that this is still the start of the season," Bochy said. "But there is a point when you stop saying there is time to turn this around."
The clock appears to be ticking.
"We're all a little bit confused as to why we're not playing like we should be," left fielder Ryan Klesko said. "We all have to look in the mirror. Everyone is frustrated by everything that is happening.
"Defensively, offensively . . . it seems like it's the first week of spring training. It's not performance. We're making as many mental errors as physical. And it's not one person, it's the whole team."
Nevin said he welcomed Bochy's harsh words.
The Padres haven't pitched or hit particularly well, but they might be most inept in the field, where they've committed five errors in the last two games. How the team ranks in the NL:
Most errors
1. Padres18
2. Cubs16
Giants16
Most unearned runs allowed
1. Padres15 2. 3 tied with 8
Worst fielding pct.
1. Padres.978
2. 3 tied at.980
"We're playing horrible baseball top to bottom," said Nevin, whose sixth-inning throwing error on a force play at the plate led to three Giants runs.
Nevin said he believed yesterday's game was a carry-over from the Padres' 6-5 loss Tuesday night in which they made three errors while trying to protect a one-run lead and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
"I really felt (Tuesday) night was an important game for us and this road trip," Nevin said. "Win that game and today after a good game Monday and we split despite the bad weekend in Arizona.
"But today we went right back to how we played in Arizona. It's a pretty down time. And we can't just sit here and say it will be all right. It'll be all right if we change it."
Of course, a baseball season is a 162-game marathon.
"But there are probably hundreds of moments inside every game," second baseman Mark Loretta said. "I think we're looking to the end result and losing our focus. We need to bear down on the smaller moments.
"Don't think about winning games. Think about winning each pitch and confrontation."
Said Nevin: "I don't think we're taking the field with the attitude that we more than match up with the team we're playing against."
Because right now they don't.
Bochy: 'As bad as it gets'
Manager blows up after Padres end 1-5 trip with 'pathetic' loss to Giants
By Bill Center
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2005
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050428/images/padres.jpg
ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press
Bruce Bochy and Ramon Hernandez keep their hands warm during a pitching change with the Padres down 10-1 in the seventh.
SAN FRANCISCO – Bruce Bochy had seen enough.
"It is hard to put together a game as bad as we did today," the Padres manager said yesterday in the bowels of SBC Park after his club had been humiliated and embarrassed in a 10-3 loss to the Giants that ended a 1-5 road trip.
"There was absolutely no excuse for that. We were just horrible today. That is pathetic baseball. That is as bad a game as we've had.
"We've played some ugly games, but that's as bad as it gets. We are breaking down in all facets. It starts on defense. But there are days when the pitching is not there. The hitting is not there.
"Our defense was one of our strengths last year, and it has hurt us to this point. No excuse. We're a better ballclub . . . "
Bochy was speaking shortly after emerging from a 15-minute, closed-door meeting with his players. Meeting? More like an old-fashioned dressing down.
Few times in his 11 seasons as the Padres' field boss has Bochy been more emphatic about the poor play of his team. And there have been some bad Padres teams and games during his tenure.
But the past two days in San Francisco have resembled a total meltdown.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050428/images/slide.jpg
ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press
Jason Ellison scores one of his three runs as Phil Nevin's wild throw gets past Ramon Hernandez in the sixth.
"Not acceptable," first baseman Phil Nevin said. "We were missing signs and defensive alignments. There was miscommunication on bunts."
Mental errors compounded by physical errors – of which there were five over a nine-inning span in the past two games, leading to five unearned runs.
And if you don't want to focus on the errors, try pitching and hitting.
Pitching: Right-hander Tim Redding yesterday extended the curse of the No. 5 spot in the rotation, giving up a three-run homer to Pedro Feliz in a six-run fourth that was capped by his two-run throwing error.
Hitting: In the last two games, the Padres were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
The Padres return home to play vastly improved Arizona in a three-game series starting tomorrow followed by three more against Colorado, which stands last in the NL West.
The Padres can't afford to continue their struggles at home. Sixteen of their next 22 games are on the road, with the first three at St. Louis, where the Padres traditionally struggle.
"The good news is that this is still the start of the season," Bochy said. "But there is a point when you stop saying there is time to turn this around."
The clock appears to be ticking.
"We're all a little bit confused as to why we're not playing like we should be," left fielder Ryan Klesko said. "We all have to look in the mirror. Everyone is frustrated by everything that is happening.
"Defensively, offensively . . . it seems like it's the first week of spring training. It's not performance. We're making as many mental errors as physical. And it's not one person, it's the whole team."
Nevin said he welcomed Bochy's harsh words.
The Padres haven't pitched or hit particularly well, but they might be most inept in the field, where they've committed five errors in the last two games. How the team ranks in the NL:
Most errors
1. Padres18
2. Cubs16
Giants16
Most unearned runs allowed
1. Padres15 2. 3 tied with 8
Worst fielding pct.
1. Padres.978
2. 3 tied at.980
"We're playing horrible baseball top to bottom," said Nevin, whose sixth-inning throwing error on a force play at the plate led to three Giants runs.
Nevin said he believed yesterday's game was a carry-over from the Padres' 6-5 loss Tuesday night in which they made three errors while trying to protect a one-run lead and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
"I really felt (Tuesday) night was an important game for us and this road trip," Nevin said. "Win that game and today after a good game Monday and we split despite the bad weekend in Arizona.
"But today we went right back to how we played in Arizona. It's a pretty down time. And we can't just sit here and say it will be all right. It'll be all right if we change it."
Of course, a baseball season is a 162-game marathon.
"But there are probably hundreds of moments inside every game," second baseman Mark Loretta said. "I think we're looking to the end result and losing our focus. We need to bear down on the smaller moments.
"Don't think about winning games. Think about winning each pitch and confrontation."
Said Nevin: "I don't think we're taking the field with the attitude that we more than match up with the team we're playing against."
Because right now they don't.