Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Andy Green didn't really want to discuss Jhoulys Chacin's home-and-away splits before Saturday afternoon's game against the Rockies at Petco Park.
Yes, they were that polarizing. Besides, the Padres' manager was hoping Chacin's run at Petco Park would continue.
Going into Saturday, Chacin had made eight appearances (six starts) at Petco Park in his career, going 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA. Opponents were hitting .177 against the right-hander in San Diego. And among all pitchers who had made at least six starts at Petco Park, only one -- Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez, at 1.51 -- had a lower ERA than Chacin's mark.
And the numbers were even more skewed this season.
Entering Saturday, Chacin had a 0.67 ERA at Petco Park in four starts. That was the lowest home ERA in the Majors, and opponents were batting just .132 against Chacin.
His road splits were totally opposite. The Chacin who was 2-0 at home was 2-4 in seven starts on the road with a 10.27 ERA, and hitters were batting .377.
Things didn't go quite as planned Saturday as Chacin faced his original team for the first time. He gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts as his home ERA climbed to 1.36, which is still the lowest in the National League.
Chacin is now 4-2 in his career at Petco Park with a 2.06 ERA.
NOTEWORTHY
• Two other positive Padres runs ended Saturday. One was their five-game winning streak. The other was the bullpen's run of allowing only one run in 20 2/3 innings, while opponents hit only .061 (4-for-66) over a six-game span. Colorado scored six runs on seven hits in three innings against the bullpen.
• Catcher Austin Hedges has homered in each of his last three starts, marking the second time this season he has went deep in three straight starts (April 20-22). Hedges is tied with Kansas City's Salvador Perez for the most home runs (11) among Major League catchers. All of Hedges' homers have come since the season's 12th game on April 15.
• CF Franchy Cordero was 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts Saturday after hitting safely in each of his first five Major League starts. Cordero is hitting .318 (7-for-22) with two walks, but he has also struck out in half of his at-bats.
• LHP Jose Torres gave up a grand slam home run to Ian Desmond on Saturday. It was the fourth homer allowed by the rookie reliever in 27 2/3 innings. Torres had allowed only five runs (four earned) covering 19 1/3 innings in his previous 16 outings before giving up two runs in two-thirds of an inning Saturday.