Padres Happy With Past, but Not Looking Ahead

The San Diego Padres have a 2-0 lead in the National League championship series, and the Atlanta Braves aren’t doing many things well.

But the Padres said they aren’t overconfident heading into Game 3 today at Qualcomm Stadium.

“We know it’s the best out of seven,” Padre Manager Bruce Bochy said. “You haven’t done anything after two games. We know there’s a lot of baseball left to be played.

“We have to continue to play the way we’re playing right now. [Atlanta] is as good as any club in the big leagues. You look at their pitching, their defense, their offense. We can’t relax, we have to keep going.”

San Diego ace Kevin Brown agrees.

“It’s a heck of a lot better than being down two games, and it’s better than being split, 1-1, right now,” said Brown, who pitched a three-hit shutout in Game 2. “It’s a real moral victory for us to [go to Atlanta] and play this caliber of team, and face the pitching we were going to face.

“I think it just really speaks to the heart and soul of this team. To come out and not be intimidated, and not be discouraged, and to keep scrapping and fighting. Now we’re up, 2-0, and that’s huge. What more could you ask for?”

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Atlanta power hitters Andres Galarraga and Chipper Jones appeared overmatched against Brown and Game 1 starter Andy Ashby.

Galarraga is hitless in eight at-bats with four strikeouts, and Jones has a single in eight at-bats. They combined to hit 78 home runs with 228 runs batted in during the regular season.

“We’re facing some great pitching and we’re struggling swinging the bats right now,” said Jones, an all-star third baseman. “Every team playing at this time of the year has great pitching, and we just have to keep focused and try to get locked back in. We have the guys who can do it.”

Galarraga believes it’s only a matter of time before the Atlanta offense reverts to form.

“We know what we can do, we have a lot of great hitters on our team,” the all-star first baseman said. “But we have to start giving our pitchers some runs to work with. We have to do that now.”