The Major League record for home runs hit by a player who is 5'7" tall is 358, by Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra. I tell you this because the Padres have found themselves another short slugger. 5'7" Alexi Amarista, who struck again in a Padres 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks in Arizona.
Diamondbacks starter and Vista high alum Trevor Cahill is 6'3", and He got touched up by Mighty Mouse. In the 1st inning, Amarista hit his 4th home run in 4 games. Alexi had 3 hits and drove in 3 runs.
His production alone would have been enough for Clayton Richard. The lefty was lights out again, allowing 2 runs in 8 2/3 innings. Richard is 4-1 with 1.70 ERA over his last 5 starts.
The big blast of the night Cameron Maybin. I mean, really big blast. Maybin hit a 485 foot home run to left-center field, the longest homer in the major leagues this year and the longest ever hit by an opponent at Chase Field. The 6'2" Maybin is tied with Amarista, both have 4 bombs this season.
Rookie catcher Yasmani Grandal also go in to the act, hitting his 3rd homer in 3 days. Since the Padres inserted Grandal as the starting catcher, they're 3-0 and averaging 5.3 runs a game.
Richard fell one batter short of a complete game. Bud Black called in Joe Thatcher with two runners on in the 9th inning. Thatcher (like Richard, a native of Indiana) struck out Jason Kubel for his first big league save. Joe has been in the big leagues for six years now.
The Padres win coupled with the Rockies 9-3 loss to the Cardinals moves San Diego past Colorado and in to 4th place in the NL West. It's only by percentage points, but it's still nice to say!
