The Padres' outfield woes continued Thursday night in Philadelphia, although center fielder Jim Edmonds got his first hit in 21 at-bats.
Left fielder Scotty Hairston went 0-for-3 as his average slipped to .205. Hairston's evening ended early when Tony Clark pinch-hit for him in the ninth and struck out. For some strange reason, Edmonds and Hairston perform worst when they are in the game together. When Edmonds is in center (12-for-75), Hairston is only 7-for-52 when in left. That's a combined 19-for-127 (.150) with one homer and seven RBIs when they are on the field together.
But when Hairston is in center (and Edmonds is out of the lineup), Hairston is hitting .304 (11-for-36) with four homers and eight RBIs.
PHILLIES 3, PADRES 2: Ryan Howard homered off left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday to break a 2-2 tie and hand the Padres their 12th loss in the last 15 games. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run, first-inning homer to give the Padres a 2-0 lead.
