Over the first 12 games of the season, the Padres' fast-starting center field tandem of the right-handed Scott Hairston and the left-handed Jody Gerut paced the club's strong start.
The platoon hit .340 (17-for-50) with 11 runs scored and 11 RBIs during the Padres' 9-3 start. Their combined on-base percentage was .389. Gerut had four doubles and a homer and Hairston had three doubles and two homers, giving the platoon at the top of the order a .660 slugging percentage. Then things turned.
Hairston remained hot, but Gerut fell into a prolonged slump. And Padres manager Bud Black started moving his hitters around in the order in a futile attempt to get his offense jump-started.
On Sunday, Gerut went 2-for-5 with a homer out of the leadoff slot -- marking only the second time in 12 games that the Padres leadoff hitter had two hits in a game.
In fact, in the 11 games prior to Sunday, Padres leadoff hitters went 5-for-45 with five walks, one homer, four runs scored and two RBIs. The batting average for those 11 games was .111 and the on-base percentage was .200.
But because he was the most consistent hitter on the Padres, Hairston had been moved out of the leadoff slot.
The struggling Brian Giles batted in the leadoff position in five of those 11 games and went 4-for-22 with three walks and the home run. Second baseman David Eckstein made four starts and went 1-for-16. And Gerut was 0-for-7 in two games with a pair of walks.
ASTROS 12, PADRES 5: Houston jumped on right-hander Josh Geer for seven runs (five earned) in three plus innings Sunday then weathered a three-homer (Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Headley and Jody Gerut) comeback by the Padres to complete a weekend sweep of San Diego.
