Padres vs. Indians Game Recap 3/22/12

Cory Luebke had a strong showing, but late runs by the Indians sunk the Padres in Peoria.  As part of the split squad team that remained in Peoria, Cory Luebke pitched five innings and struck out six.  He allowed four hits and just one run.  But he walked away with a no-decision.

The Tribe scored one run in the sixth, one in the seventh, and then they broke the game wide open with a six run eighth inning.  Matt Palmer took the brunt of the Indians scoring.  He pitched two-thirds of an inning, gave up two hits (including a home run) and allowed five to score.  Only two of those runs were charged to him, but he was unable to clean up the mess that was left at the table before him.

On the plus side, Chase Headley had a nice game.  He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run-scored.  The RBI and run-scored came off Headley’s fourth inning blast off Ubaldo Jimenez.  Will Venable and Jesus Guzman added hits in the Padres loss.

Ubaldo Jimenez had a solid game for the Indians.  No stranger to facing the Padres from his days in the National League West with the Rockies, Jimenez pitched four innings and struck out four.  He only gave up the one home run to Headley.

Luebke’s lone run came on a big blast by Travis Hafner in the first inning.  He simply struggled with the big lefty.

"I felt good, but I’ve got to do a better job battling those lefties. But I’m happy with my change. I got four or five outs with it when I was behind in the count. Today is the most comfortable I’ve felt with it at this point in my career."

The Padres are 12-9 and have won nine of eleven, and they look to keep things rolling against the Reds today at 7:05 PT.  Edinson Volquez will get the primetime start in Peoria against his former club.

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