All Eyes on Jake Peavy
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by Nejoshi
While fans in Philadelphia, Arizona, and Chicago get to relax and bask in the glory of making it to October, the San Diego Padres, the NL’s most seasoned team that’s still alive, must play in a one-game playoff, on the road no less. Especially disheartening is the manner in which San Diego put themselves in this position. With a win on Friday, the Padres shaved their magic number to one entering the final two games of the season. On Saturday, the Padres were one strike away from locking up the wildcard when Trevor Hoffman, the game’s most storied closer, inexplicably gave up the tying run on a 9th inning triple by a man named Gwynn. That would be Tony Gwynn, Jr., who ironically came to torture the franchise that made his father a legend. The Padres would lose the game in extra innings and were visibly shaken during yesterday’s 11-6 debacle.
But, now that they are here, it’s time to turn to Jake Peavy, the NL’s likely Cy Young award winner. Peavy has had a remarkable season, winning the pitcher’s version of the Triple Crown, – wins, strikeouts, and ERA – going 19-6, with a 2.36 ERA, and 234 strikeouts. Outside of a midseason slump where he lost four consecutive starts, Peavy has been close to unbeatable. No team has relied on pitching in 2007 as much as San Diego, and Peavy’s excellence throughout the season has come to define this team. Every time he takes the mound, the Padres expect to ride their horse into the win column.
However, it’s undeniable that his candidacy as the Cy Young is on the line tonight at Coors Field. All odds are against are the Padres; ever since Milton Bradley cost San Diego two of their three starting outfielders, (he stepped on Mike Cameron’s index finger and broke it in the same game he tore his ACL) the Padres have looked deflated. The pitching staff, the team’s biggest strength, has fallen off recently and now they must face a Colorado Rockies team that ended the season 13-1 to make up six games on the Friars in the season’s final month. Despite all this, the Padres can’t help but be confident that they can and will win tonight. In a situation like this, there’s not a single pitcher in the National League that they would rather have.
Tonight’s matchup pits strength versus strength as Peavy faces the NL’s best offense of the month, anchored by NL MVP candidate Matt Holliday. Holliday has been a beast this season, coming pretty damn close to winning the Triple Crown, but he has a lot of offensive talent behind him. Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, Garret Atkins, and Brad Hawpe have all heated up in the month of September helping the Rockies to a 20-win month. Only once before in the history of baseball has a team won 20 games in the season’s final month and not made the postseason. There is no doubt that their offense has the potential to create headaches for San Diego’s ace.
With all these storylines converging with the arrival of October in Denver, the Padres’ ace has a chance to outshine all and give the injury-riddled Padres a much-needed jolt as they look to extend their season. The 26-year old righthander has gone at least seven innings while allowing less than two runs in seven of his last eight starts. He has been just as dominant against the Rockies this season, with a 1.29 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 14 innings against the Mile High bunch.
However, Peavy’s sparkling season could all be for naught if he can’t win #20.
