TURNING POINT
Working with another of those 1-0 leads at the start of the sixth, Jake Peavy got himself in trouble in numerous ways, first by throwing away Willy Taveras' bunt to give the Rockies' leadoff man second base. Peavy issued consecutive walks to Matt Holliday and Todd Helton, then found himself trailing 3-1 after singles by Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe.
KEY FACTORS
Offense: Leading off the bottom of the third, Jake Peavy got after an Aaron Cook fastball for his fifth hit of the year, a double inside the third base bag. He gave himself a 1-0 lead by scoring on Brian Giles' drive into the left-center gap.
Pitching: A pitcher who's never won 10 games in a season, Rockies right-hander Cook is 6-1 with his sixth straight victory. He walked four and struck out only one, yet controlled the Padres over a seven-inning stint to lower his ERA to 2.26.
Defense: Errorless in 27 games in Portland's outfield, center fielder Jody Gerut recorded an assist with his first play in the Padres outfield, throwing out Todd Helton with a no-bounce, waist-high strike to third base in the second inning.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Of the moves the Padres made yesterday, the one that evoked the biggest “Huh?” was the promotion to the majors of Triple-A catcher Luke Carlin, since he wasn't even the starter with Portland.
Carlin had his own reason for flinching when told to report to Beavers manager Randy Ready for the surprising news.
“The last time I got called to the manager's office,” said Carlin, “I got released.”
It marked quite a jump for Carlin, 27, a career minor leaguer who had such a rough year in 2007 that he wasn't even invited to big league camp by the Padres this spring.
“Being a backup catcher can be a blessing in disguise,” said Carlin, who batted .387 in 11 games with the Beavers. “I've always started as a backup and was able to make the adjustment.”
Carlin is considered more of a defensive catcher than Colt Morton, whose undoing was his problems behind the plate. Morton was sent to Double-A.
WHO'S HOT
Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe: The two Rockies, whose back-to-back singles beat Jake Peavy, are batting a combined .377 (17-for-45) over their careers against the 2007 NL Cy Young winner.
WHO'S NOT
Kevin Kouzmanoff: After making it all the way to May 7 before hitting into a double play, he did it twice last night, on consecutive at-bats. Then again, he followed with a solo homer.
– CHRIS JENKINS
