"It's times like these you learn to love again" Dave Grohl

This song came to mind after Ludwick's walk off jack tonight. After what has been up until now a frustrating year for the Pads offense, one at bat changed everything, at least for tonight. This is the great thing about baseball, even though our Pads have dropped to the cellar of the NL West and have possibly been swinging wiffle ball bats for the last couple weeks, tonight they made us all happy. Ryan Ludwick goes from a huge disappointment to a hero with one swing. Maybe it's what he needed to get it going this season, or maybe he will go back to disappointing us, but at least now we have one good memory of the guy that was supposed to put us into the playoffs last year.

There was actually more good news from this game than Ludwick's performance, even though his shot was the most memorable. How about Brad Hawpe? In most ballparks he hit two bombs tonight, of course in Petco he hit a double and an f7, but could he finally be busting out of his slump? Can we even call what he has been in a slump? There must be a better word for a guy that has been going as bad as Hawpe has this season. There is always talk about a hitter hovering around the "Mendoza line" when he is struggling to keep his average over .200. Hawpe hasn't been able to keep his average over .100 until tonight. At least tonight he broke the "Hawpe line," and he better keep hitting because that's a name that's likely to stick. Just to put into perspective how bad he has been, not one player with more than 5 at bats on the 2010 Padres hit under .125, and that includes the pitching staff. So here we go Brad, keep hitting like you did tonight and you'll get things going.

Of course the pitching was stellar again tonight. Only 4 baserunners allowed by Mosely, and the bullpen didn't allow a single run.

Something about tonight's game makes me feel like opening day again. Just yesterday I was sitting at Petco frustrated, and today things are looking up again. Like I said, that's baseball, and that's why I love it. Of course if the Pads get shut out again tomorrow I'll probably hate it once again.

KK