Rondell White

[Me]

Padres at home vs. Mariners. Jeff Nelson gave up 5 runs in 9th. Grand slam to Rondell. Final score 3-5. Good for Rondell. Good ole Nellie.

[-tz]

Originally posted by Me
Padres at home vs. Mariners. Jeff Nelson gave up 5 runs in 9th. Grand slam to Rondell. Final score 3-5. Good for Rondell. Good ole Nellie.

[Rich]

(thumbs up)

[MulderHudsonZito]

Yeah, ditto for me as well. Bless You, Padres!! I have to send Rondell a nice thank you card.

That'll add a little flavor to that 'natural rivalry' the Pods and M's have brewing.

[PinstripePride]

Another case of a guy who couldn't handle NY, maybe.

I've been tracking Rondell....he's hitting over .300 now....

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

Originally posted by PinstripePride
Another case of a guy who couldn't handle NY, maybe.

I've been tracking Rondell....he's hitting over .300 now....

.296

[PinstripePride]

Originally posted by RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees

.296

Doh. Thanks.

[Yankchic22]

Good for Rondell!

[Soriambi]

Helps my FB team too I'm surprised he's never hit a walk-off homer in his whole career before. Nice way to do it.

[Spiker]

Why do I find suggest satisfaction in this?

[Yankyfan]

I'd still like to have old big mouth in my pen anyday.

[Alex]

Nelson walked the bases like a carousel, forcing in a run, then the grand slam. That's always been the bugaboo with Nellie - he can't stop throwing the slider out of the zone, and refuses to throw anything else - bases loaded, grand slam. There it goes.

When he's good, he's great. When he's bad, he's awful.

[Alex]

White grand slam wins it for Pads
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com

Rondell White hits a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth Friday night. (Denis Ponoy/AP)

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres won in grand style on Friday -- literally.
Rondell White hit a walkoff grand slam off Mariners' reliever Jeff Nelson to turn a 3-0 loss into a 5-3 win. A crowd of 23,500 was in attendance.

White's big blow quickly turned a solid pitching performance by Mariners' starter Gil Meche into mere statistics. It also made a winner
out of Padres reliever Mike Matthews and handed Nelson his first loss.

"I was looking for a ball middle-in because I had been chasing the slider away," White said. "I thought he might try to throw the slider at me and break it across the plate. He threw it across and I hit it OK."

The winning rally started when Gary Matthews Jr. led off the inning with a pinch-hit single. After Nelson got Donaldo Mendez and pinch-hitter Brian Buchanan on strikes, Mark Kotsay followed with a walk.

Mark Loretta then singled and Ryan Klesko walked to force in Matthews.

White followed with his 12th homer of the year, the third grand slam of his career and first-ever walkoff homer.

"That was my first one and it felt unbelievable," White said.

As Nelson struggled, the entire momentum of the game shifted. Even though the big right-hander had the Padres down to their last out, the sense that this was the Padres' game to win became apparent and their skipper could feel it.

"I looked at (Darren) Balsley and said, 'If Loretta can get on here, I like our chances," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said of a brief discussion with his pitching coach. "He did and we had our guy (Klesko) up there and he tried to be careful with him and walked him. Rondell battled his tail off. It looked like he got out in front a little bit but he squared up on it. He's strong and he showed how strong he is."

Stepping up big was the Padres' bullpen. What would have just been an interesting footnote in an otherwise losing effort became a key element in the team's 24th win.

The pen held the Mariners scoreless over the last four innings with Matt Herges contributing two innings, and Jay Witasick and Matthews (3-3) chipping in with an inning apiece.

But for most of 8 2/3 innings, it was all Mariners.

Oliver Perez started his second game for the Padres since returning from a stint in Triple-A and looked more like the pitcher who was sent down than the one who impressed just a few days ago.

"Last time he was so consistent in his (arm) slot," Bochy said. "Once he dropped down a time or two it seemed he got out of it.

After throwing 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball against the White Sox last Sunday, the left-hander regressed and struggled through most of his five innings on Friday.

"He was erratic with his command. I thought he was rushing a little bit," Bochy said. "I think he got frustrated with himself at times."

Perez gave up just three hits but it was the six walks he issued while throwing 101 pitches that led to his short night. Two of those walks came around to score. Perez also struck out five batters.

"He kind of regrouped and made some pitches when he had to," Bochy said. "But that one inning he just hurt himself with the walks."

[yeahimweird]

It's great to see Rondell's doing well.

[Dave in MD]

I said it at the time, trading away Rondell for Bubba was a horrible move. Phillips better turn into something because that a horrific trade.

[#1PaFan]

WTG Rock!

[DJeter1287]

Go Rondell!! Nice work!!

[ring403]

Way to go, Rondell!
Maybe it's wrong, but I just love seeing Nelson fail. His whining, selfish attitude always annoyed me. I'm glad he not our problem anymore.

[Soriambi]

Originally posted by Dave in MD
I said it at the time, trading away Rondell for Bubba was a horrible move. Phillips better turn into something because that a horrific trade.

However, you don't know if he's be playing like this in NY, on an extremely limited basis. Yes, we could use him now since Bernie's out, but with Matsui, Raul, and Bernie there was no place for him. The key player in that trade was Phillips. The Yankees were figuring that if we weren't going to use Rondell, why not get a prospect for him?

[ring403]

Originally posted by Soriambi


However, you don't know if he's be playing like this in NY, on an extremely limited basis. Yes, we could use him now since Bernie's out, but with Matsui, Raul, and Bernie there was no place for him. The key player in that trade was Phillips. The Yankees were figuring that if we weren't going to use Rondell, why not get a prospect for him?

Agreed. Rondell would have been miserable in Bubba's role, and Phillips, despite his attitude problems, has enormous potential. I still love this trade.

[LilChief]

WOOOOHOOOO for Rock!!!!!!!
Always loved him
Always will....
Only wish the best for him, and wish we'd been able to find a place for him here...
GO ROCK!!!! You will always be one of the good guys, One of my son's Heroes, and one who made time for him!!!!

Your Fans Forever!!!!!

[TAG]

WTG White....I am glad you are doing great with your new team....