Pads snap skid with Hampson's help

By Bill Center

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

July 25, 2007

DENVER – It will be several days before the Padres are able to assess the cost of last night's 5-3 victory at Colorado that ended their losing streak at four.

Because it won't be until later this week that the Padres can fully judge the severity of the left oblique strain that forced major league ERA leader Chris Young off the mound.

“It looks as though he could miss a start,” said manager Bud Black. “I'm hoping for the best. The worst-case scenario is the disabled list.”

Young injured the oblique, a muscle in the rib cage, while pitching in the second inning. Shortly after coming out to warm up for the third, he walked off the mound with trainer Todd Hutcheson.

“Hopefully, it's not that bad,” said Young, who said he had never before experienced an oblique strain. “I didn't even know what it was when I first felt it.”

Young said he felt a “grab” while throwing a slider to Garrett Atkins in the second inning. He finished the inning by retiring Atkins and Brad Hawpe on grounders.

While the Padres were hitting in the top of the third, Young conferred with Hutcheson in a tunnel behind the Padres dugout.

As he spoke after last night's game, Young said his oblique was “stiff and a little sore.”

“This can be minor and it can be severe,” said Young.

Just ask Mike Cameron, whose three-run homer in the first gave Young the lead. Cameron suffered a strained left oblique on the final day of spring training in 2006. He missed the Padres' first 17 games and didn't really get untracked until the start of June.

“That was a tough injury,” said Cameron. “I thought I was getting better, but every time I tried to do something it'd bite. Even when I returned, it wasn't all that good. It just lingered. src="http://oas.signonsandiego.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.cgi/www.uniontrib.com/sports/padres/20070725-9999-1s25padres.html@x32">

“Milton (Bradley) has also had an oblique strain and he says the same thing.”

Black said if Young can't start, the leading candidates are all with Triple-A Portland – Mike Thompson, Tim Stauffer and Ryan Ketchner.

“I expect we'll know more by Thursday or Friday,” said Black. Young's next scheduled start is Sunday in Houston.

Last night's two scoreless innings lowered Young's ERA to 1.82. He also leads the majors with a .186 opponents batting average. Young is riding a five-game winning streak, and the Padres are 14-6 in his 20 starts.

Going into last night, the Padres had lost four straight since Young started his fifth 1-0 Padres win last Friday at Petco Park.

But, as Cameron pointed out, the MVP last night was Justin Hampson, who entered the game to start the third and held the Rockies scoreless over 3 2/3 innings.

“Hampson was outstanding,” said Black. “There have been a number of games where he's come in like that.”

Four, to be exact – during which the left-handed long reliever has allowed one unearned run on eight hits over 14 innings.

“You never want to come into a game like that,” said Hampson. “I was a little nervous when I started working. But I was able to keep the ball on the ground, and they made plays behind me.”

Hampson was in position to win until the Rockies scored three runs against the setup relievers in the seventh.

This time, however, the Padres rebounded, answering with two runs in the eighth. Michael Barrett and Adrian Gonzalez (RBI) both had doubles in the rally, with Bradley adding an infield single and Khalil Greene driving in the final run with a sacrifice fly.

The Padres' bullpen blew a 5-2 lead Monday as the team fell to a fourth straight loss for only the second time this season, prompting Black to hold a closed-door meeting before last night's game.

“This was a big win after a bad loss,” said Black.

But the full cost won't be known for a few days.