Four Games In, Padres At .500

After a comeback win over the Dodgers yesterday, the San Diego Padres finished their first series of 2009 with a split and will face off with San Francisco tonight hoping to end their first trip through the pitching rotation with a winning record.Undoubtedly, the biggest question in the first couple of months for this young club is pitching. Most baseball fans around the country would be hard-pressed to name a starter for the club other than Jake Peavy and Chris Young. Indeed, more than a few San Diegans might have to think a bit.But Walter Silva overcome nerves to pitch reasonably well in his Major League debut, with about 25 friends and family having made the eighteen hour drive from Mazatlan to cheer him on. And native son Kevin Correia pitched well in the Thursday victory. The Grossmont High alum also made a stellar backhanded defensive play.The Padres will face another kid from the hometown tonight, as the face Barry Zito and the Giants in the first matchup of the season with a club that often seems to be a barometer for Friar success. Annual records against the Giants often seem to parrallel the overall record for the Padres, and not just because 19 games is a large chunk of the schedule. Former Expo/National Shawn Hill will take the mound for the Friars, his first start for a major league club outside of that perennial cellar-dwelling franchise. Not that the Friars expect to spend much time in the penthouse this season... but Hill at least is aware of the challeneges of pitching in this kind of environment. He also should be pretty confident of his clubs chances to take the series if he pitches well tonight, with Peavy and Young following him.