San Diego Padres

Adrian Gonzalez homered and drove in three runs and Chase Headley put together a four-hit afternoon as San Diego beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 on pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar's two-out infield single in the 10th inning, part of a 16-hit outburst by the Padres.

The San Diego Padres are not only in first place in the National League West at 31-20, but they also have the best record in the National League by a full game over the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.

It's not exactly where most people and experts thought they would be at this point in the season. Yet, the Padres have gone from potential cellar dwellers and "sellers" at the trade deadline to buyers and possibly being able to take on salary above their $38 million payroll.

Matt Cain threw a one-hitter tonight and was absolutely masterful.  He had great command, particularly of the fastball, and there wasn’t much the Diamondbacks could do.

The Giants are apparently on the verge of signing Pat Burrell to a minor league deal.  One report (from Fox’s Ken Rosenthal) has it that Burrell will get an option to opt out of the contract after two weeks, presumably if he hasn’t been called up to the major league club by then.

Not only is Mat Latos living up to high expectations, he is also quickly becoming the Padres' most efficient and effective starting pitcher.

Latos outdueled Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, whose solid outing wasn't enough to derail Latos and the Padres' belated bats.

Latos (4-3) allowed a run and four hits over six innings while striking out six as the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 8-1 on Sunday before a crowd of 33,315.

Prior to Opening Day, a radio host in Dallas called the San Diego Padres "horrible." Of course, he wasn't the only skeptical media member.

Matt Baxendell of MLBCenter.com put the Padres in last place in the NL West, with fewer than 70 wins. To fulfill Baxendell's prediction, San Diego would have to finish 48-80 the rest of the way. Barring injury, I just don't see that happening.

Padres’ hurler Mat Latos tossed a one-hit shutout against the Giants Thursday night, picking up his second win in as many starts. In his last 17 innings, the 22-year-old has allowed no runs on just three hits and zero walks.

Less than a week ago Mat Latos was three outs away from his first career shutout in Houston. It did not take long for him to get another shot at it.

Latos came within one hit of a perfect game Thursday, yielding only an infield single in the sixth inning to Eli Whiteside while overshadowing Jonathan Sanchez yet again as the first-place Padres won 1-0 to complete a three-game sweep at AT&T Park.

The San Diego Padres have seemed to carry momentum over from ending last season on a high note with tied for the best record in the NL at 21-12, the best home record at 11-5 and have the fewest runs scored against them in the majors (101).

Each division in the majors has at least one team to stand out above the rest except the NL West. The injury riddled Rockies have three starting pitchers with an ERA above six and still waiting for closer Houston Street and No.2 pitcher Jorge De La Rosa to get back healthy.

In 1997, the movie Gattaca taught us that "there is no gene for the human spirit." At the start of every MLB season, we learn that there isn't a statistic for it, either.

As per usual, countless so-called experts—myself included—spent the weeks leading up to Opening Day breaking down the statistical projections and prognosticating about how the divisions would shape up in 2010.

After last night’s rally and dramatic bottom of the ninth victory, the Padres (17-10) assured themselves of having another successful homestand.  Winners of six of their last eight games and 11-4 at home, the Padres continue to roll.