When the Padres made a trade with Tampa Bay in the offseason, reliever Alex Torres was supposed to be the key piece returning to San Diego. The other player, Jesse Hahn was a wild-card, a player with obvious talent, but a checkered history with injuries. Hahn is continuing to make that trade look like a win for San Diego. Hahn pitched six tremendous innings, and the Padres cruised to a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Los Angeles got to Hahn early, when Matt Kemp drove in a run with an RBI single to put the Dodgers on the board early. It would be the only damage they would do against Hahn, as he pitched six innings and allowed just the one run in the first. Hahn did walk four batters, but struck out six, with his dazzling curveball on full display.
The Padres took the lead for good in the second inning, when Alexi Amarista hit a two-run homer off of Dodgers starter Dan Haren. The blast cleared the right-center wall and San Diego never looked back.
San Diego scored a pair of runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Chase Headley doubled in a run with a booming double to deep center field that Dodgers center fielder Scott Van Slyke could not make a play on. Carlos Quentin followed with a double into the left center gap to score a run. Quentin also had a two-run single in the sixth. Quentin drove in three runs on the evening.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the eighth inning, but Joaquin Benoit was able to escape the danger. Huston Street pitched a spotless inning for his 24th save.
Notes: Jesse Hahn will head to the All-Star break with a 5-2 record and a 2.21 ERA. Hahn has an innings-cap of 120 innings, so it will be interesting to see how longer Hahn will remain in the rotation. Padres reliever Nick Vincent will also start a rehab assignment next week, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com. Vincent has been out since June 12th with shoulder fatigue.