The Philadelphia Phillies make one trip a year to San Diego to play the Padres. If the boys from the City of Brotherly Love had their say, they'd move half their schedule to PETCO Park.
The last time the Padres beat the Phillies in the East Village was August 16, 2008. Since then, the Phils have won 11 straight games in downtown San Diego.
So it's not a stretch to say, even though the Padres just finished a 1-5 road trip, they'd rather stay out of state than come home to play four games against Philly.
"It's no secret they've played well here," says 3rd baseman Chase Headley. "It's no secret they're a talented team. It's no secret that we haven't played our best, so we need to come out and play better. I think, if we play the way we're capable of, we should be just fine."
Headley has been just fine. Through 13 games, he leads the Padres in home runs and runs batted in. Headley hit a pair of home runs in Wednesday night's loss to the Rockies, giving him 4 on the season, same number he had all of 2011.
The Padres have yet to have their entire lineup, or even three or four guys, get hot at the same time. Is it possible for Headley to wake up the other 8 guys in the lineup?
"Let's hope so," says manager Bud Black. "At times I've seen it happen. Hopefully Chase is contagious, and he runs off on these guys, because we need it from the whole group."
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Black is doing something a little different with Thursday night's lineup against the Phillies. Will Venable and Cameron Maybin were flipped in the batting order. Venable hits leadoff, with Maybin moving behind him to 2nd.
The lineup might get more potent in the coming weeks. Outfielder Carlos Quentin took live batting practice on the field for the first time before Thursday's game. The San Diego native also fielded balls in the outfield. Black says Quentin's recovery from knee surgery is going well, and he's on schedule to join the big league club in late April.
