April 11, 2006 > The Padres strike back

by Michael J. Titera

Just like their meeting last Saturday, the Padres and Braves encountered another very close battle. Both teams demonstrated improved hitting and defensive work. Once again, the score was very close throughout the game.

As they did last week, the Padres had the lead, 15 to 9, going into the 6th inning. The Braves were not ready to give up. Like last time, their hitters managed to load the bases and raise their score to 13. With only one out on the board, everyone felt that this game would be a repeat of last week. However, this time, the Padres had a different story. The second out came from a spectacular catch by catcher Neil Almeida. And the final out was made by second baseman Ryan Betts, when he applied a back-handed catch, to a fast grounder, and then solely applied the tag at second base.