Friar Watch

Clay Hensley: Clay continues to improve after a terrible start. He’s still not where he needs to be but was very effective in spots. His command was off, leading to 4 walks, but he probably had the best movement all year. It was nice to see him throw curveballs for strikeouts rather than relying on his somewhat erratic sinker.

Gameday had him as high as 96 to start the game, he slowed down a bit in the later innings. He might have been throwing too hard for his sinker to break.

Cla Meredith: Came on with a man on, gave up a ground ball single and due to a stolen base and dropped throw he had to work out of a 1 out, men on 2nd and 3rd jam. No problem for The Cla. He whiffed Kent on a ball 2 feet out of the zone and got Gonzalez to ground out. There’s nobody on this team I trust more than Meredith in a pressure situation.

Scott Linebrink: Nice to see him recover from the home run the other night with a 1-2-3 inning.

Trevor Hoffman: Another terrible night for Trevor, his 2nd blown save in a row. Sure there were some problems with the defense but just like last time Trevor wasn’t able to throw a first pitch strike and when he had to come into the zone it was elevated and hit. I think this was the first time I’ve ever seen Trevor removed in the middle of an inning.

Heath Bell: Bell came on to get the final out of the game but by then it was too late.

For the second time in three games the Padres bullpen blows a great effort from the starting pitcher. It seems like every time Trevor struggles people start to panic. His mediocre fastball doesn’t inspire confidence so it’s understandable that people think he’s washed up whenever he doesn’t get the job done. The fact is he was extremely effective last year and isn’t throwing any slower this year. His problem has been location more than anything. He should be able to make adjustments and get back to being the devastating closer he’s been for years.