Padres Welcome Back Headley with Victory

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In his first game back from the DL, Chase Headley made his presence known hitting a 3-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. The Padres are counting on him being completely healthy and to help carry the offensive load. Jedd Gyorko added another RBI making that 7 over the last two games. For the second straight night, the Padres’ offense eclipsed double-digits hits. With Headley’s return and Carlos Quentin scheduled to return in the coming week, the Padres look to be full strength for the first time this season. If the pitching staff can keep pitching lights out, the Padres have an outside chance of being a wild card team come October.

Eric Stults pitched 6 strong innings; his only 2 runs coming off of a first inning Casey McGhee home run. The Padres’ starters have pitched nearly lights-out baseball during this series. Tomorrow’s starter, Robbie Erlin (1-4, 4.95 ERA) will look to secure the series win; this would be the first Padres’ series win since the conclusion of their last home stand against San Francisco.

Seth Smith continued justifying why he was worth a trade for fan favorite Luke Gregerson. On the series, Smith is 7-for-13 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run. The last two games he has been one hit shy of the cycle. Last night he was missing just a home run while tonight he was only a single short of the cycle. The Padres are the only franchise without a player hitting for the cycle.

Yonder Alonso, who has seen his playtime diminish due to lack of offense, reached base all 5 times he went to the plate tonight with 3 singles and 2 walks.

The old adage states that hitting is contagious; Lets hope the Padres have caught something and it stays awhile.

Keep the Faith.