BY THE NUMBERS
2 RBI for Padres cleanup man Kevin Kouzmanoff, his first multi-RBI game since April 15.
10 Consecutive hitless at-bats for Khalil Greene before a fifth-inning double.
April 5, 2006 Previous time Shawn Estes had pitched for the Padres before yesterday.
TURNING POINT
Second baseman Callix Crabbe allowed Matt Diaz's slow, two-out grounder to get past him for an error with the bases empty in the sixth inning. The Braves capitalized for two unearned runs, closing to 4-3. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez said Crabbe wasn't to blame. “That ball had a lot of spin on it, you didn't know what it was going to do,” he said. Said Crabbe: “Regardless of what people might have to say, I just missed it.”
KEY FACTORS
Defense: Shortstop Khalil Greene, trying to complete a difficult play, made a tailing throw wide of Gonzalez, an error that put Yunel Escobar on second base to open the seventh. Escobar would score to tie it 4-4 on a wild pitch by Heath Bell, whose fastball got under rookie catcher Colt Morton.
Injuries: Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes departed in the third because of a blister on his left index finger; Braves reliever Buddy Carlyle left in the fifth because of neck strain, suffered when Carlyle ran into Kevin Kouzmanoff on the Padres' first-base line.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Yunel Escobar: Yet again, it appears the Braves' farm system has produced another good ballplayer. Escobar, a smooth defender, has ably replaced shortstop Edgar Renteria, who was traded to Detroit in the offseason. He had two hits and a walk yesterday and scored three runs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Padres second baseman Tadahito Iguchi has gone 99 games and 96 starts since making an error June 12 with the White Sox. Iguchi did not start yesterday, allowing rookie Callix Crabbe to make his sixth start this season and third start at second base.
Crabbe made two errors yesterday, leading to three unearned runs. The first was a throwing error in the first inning. After fielding a nubber by Escobar, Crabbe made an off-balance sling toward Gonzalez.
Crabbe has given the Padres a dose of speed and versatility, but he'll have to improve to convince scouts he can be an everyday player. The buy-low Padres chose him in the Rule 5 draft last December. His salary is at least $600,000 less than what utility man Geoff Blum would have commanded if the Padres had brought him back.
Blum said the Padres showed no interest in retaining him before he signed with the Astros. Reliever Doug Brocail said the same after he signed with the Astros.
– TOM KRASOVIC
