Yeah, yeah; the Padres banged out seven hits with the pink bats. I hear you. But a win is a win, and the club will take it, right along with the series victory over St. Louis.
Chris Ello of XX Sports Radio had a great take on his show Sunday, in which he detailed how right on Kevin Towers has been in recent years with everything pitching-related. If there’s an unappreciated arm out there, and Towers can make a deal which costs him next to nothing (Doug Mirabelli is a perfect example), he gets it done. Unfortunately for San Diego, Towers doesn’t have the same keen eye for the bat, pink or otherwise.
But let’s take an hour or two off from that whole thing, shall we. Justin Germano is yet another of Towers’ great finds. And he found him twice, actually. Towers drafted Germano originally in 2000, and included him in the trade to the Reds for third baseman Joe Randa in 2005.
While Germano may look like he came out of nowhere, he’s had an accomplished minor league career. He’s won 69 games over six-plus minor league seasons, with a 3.69 ERA. And that seven-inning, zero-walk performance Sunday was no fluke either. He’s walked just 191 in his minor league career, and struck out 803. I’m no mathematician, but that looks like better than 4-1 to me.
Anyway, Bud Black is already thinking about the possibility of keeping Germano in the rotation when Clay Hensley gets healthy. We’ll see. In the meantime, the Cincinnati Reds hit town tonight. And if you thought the Cardinals were bad, wait till you get a load of this club, Ken Griffey, Jr. notwithstanding. Of course, it might be nice if more than 18,000 showed up for a game, if for no other reason than to get what might be one last look at Junior in the flesh.
And what the bleep? With the Reds here, why not participate in some good old fashioned pining for Joe Randa?
— HOWARD COLE