Adam Eaton

PADRES ANALYSIS STRENGTHS -- Padres hopes hinge on the front of the rotation and the back of the bullpen. Jake Peavy (13-7, 2.88 ERA), who will start today, can be dominant when he has his best stuff. He struck out 216 in 203 in nings. Adam Eaton (11-5, 4.27) is an other quality starter. Trevor Hoff man (43 saves) is one of the best closers in baseball. The offense re volves around outfielder Brian Giles. If speedy center fielder Dave Roberts is able to play, the lineup and the de fense improve.

Will the pitching keep up with the solid offense? Anything is possible, but the club's apparent lack of quality starting pitching looks to be its downfall. Jeremy Guthrie (left) is the ace, but he has only two full major league seasons, and the No. 2 starter, Koji Uehara, has never pitched in the majors. Alfredo Simon won a spot with a strong spring but has pitched in just four major league games. Although Adam Eaton (career 4.89 ERA) and Mark Hendrickson (career 5.07 ERA) have experience, neither posted a sub-5.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -Orioles right-hander Danys Baez finally took a step in the direction of the Opening Day starting rotation yesterday, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Fellow rotation candidate Hayden Penn took a small step backward, giving up a game-deciding home run in the Orioles' 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. In both cases, the results would not have mattered a week ago, but the Orioles are moving into the second phase of the spring training evaluation process.

The Orioles' team bus is about to be put on blocks for the winter, which will make it a lot easier to throw Dave Trembley under it. So what if he can't reasonably be held responsible for the dismal performance of a dismal team? Somebody needs to give up a pound of flesh for this disaster, and that somebody is usually the manager. But it doesn't have to go down that way. The Orioles' president of baseball operations, Andy MacPhail, doesn't have to hand him over to angry fans. He could stand next to Trembley at a news conference next week and explain that they embarked on a rebuilding program together 2 1/2 years ago and they are going to finish the job together.

There's no point in trying to make sense of it. The Orioles turned conventional wisdom on its head to trounce the New York Yankees on Opening Day at Camden Yards. They beat the most expensive pitcher on the most expensive team in baseball and left us with nothing but John Lennon ringing in our skulls. Instant karma's gonna get you. How else do you explain Mark Teixeira's punchless Yankees debut or the strange eighth-inning home run by shortstop Cesar Izturis that had a spooky resemblance to the infamous Jeffrey Maier incident at Yankee Stadium all those years ago?

WHO'S HOT Adam Eaton, Padres right-hander, is 9-1 and has won eight straight, the past two stopping San Diego losing streaks. WHO'S NOT The Marlins have lost 12 of their past 15 and have been beaten by eight runs or more six times this season. BATTING LINE OF THE DAY Mark Teixeira, Rangers 1B AB R H RBI HR 4 2 3 5 2 PITCHING LINE OF THE DAY Jesus Colome, Devil Rays IP H R BB SO 1 1/3 9 9 1 2

ALL GAMES ON 105.7 FM Mon @Rangers, 8:05 p.m., MASN Starters: Koji Uehara (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Rangers' Vicente Padilla (1-0, 4.76) Tue @Rangers, 8:05 p.m., MASN Starters: Alfredo Simon (0-1, 7.20) vs.Rangers' Brandon McCarthy (1-0, 5.40) Wed @Rangers, 8:05 p.m., MASN2 Starters: Mark Hendrickson (1-0, 1.69) vs.Rangers' Kris Benson (0-1, 12.60) Fri @Red Sox, 7:10 p.m., MASN Starters: Jeremy Guthrie (2-0, 2.25) vs. Red Sox's Brad Penny (1-0, 4.50) Sat @Red Sox, 7:10 p.m., MASN Starters: Adam Eaton (0-1, 9.00)