DOWN THE LINE

Three Days in ... San Diego

The San Diego Padres led the NL West for a few days in mid-May, the Colorado Rockies for most of April and May.

Now look at them.

After showing some life on the road for the first time in franchise history -- they had at least 51 road losses in each of the previous four seasons -- the Rockies had lost nine of 11 away from the humidor after last week’s sweep by the Dodgers.

In a 12-game stretch after Jake Peavy’s May 11 win against the Brewers, the only Padres starters to win a game were Mike Thompson and Clay Hensley.

The probables:

Monday: Jason Jennings vs. Thompson

Tuesday: Aaron Cook vs. Chris Young

Wednesday: Jeff Francis vs. Hensley

Barry’s Team ... Barry’s Rules

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has been hanging around the San Francisco Giants clubhouse, which, because he is not a team employee or credentialed to be there, is against MLB rules.

Reporters just spent three weeks hearing Giants gripe about them “hanging around the clubhouse,” which wasn’t reporters’ idea of dinner-and-a-movie either. Had Barry Bonds felt like cooperating, a majority would have been in and out in 10 minutes.

Jackson was on the field as the Giants celebrated Willie Mays’ 75th birthday. MLB officials are looking into it.

Smoke ‘Em if You ... Play ‘Em

Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland are pals from before their days in Chicago, when La Russa was the White Sox manager and Leyland his third-base coach on the way to becoming Pittsburgh’s manager.

They still chat fairly regularly, mostly to compare bleeding ulcers. They did again last week, shortly after the Cardinals had buried the Kansas City Royals for three games and with Leyland’s Detroit Tigers on the way to Kansas City for four.

What they also share, La Russa said, is paranoia.

“I’m so screwed up I can’t eat,” he said. “But he can’t eat or sleep. He just smokes. He literally told me today he’s scared to death of the four-game series in Kansas City. And he meant it.”

The Tigers, of course, won all four.

When Quantity Overruns ... Quality

Your team going through starting pitchers like A.J. Pierzynski goes through friends?

Fear not (necessarily).

Although not recommended strategy, the New York Mets lead the NL East despite having nine pitchers start for them. Newcomer Orlando Hernandez will make it 10 today; another addition, Dave Williams, might soon make it 11. The Toronto Blue Jays, challenging in the AL East, also have used nine.

Conversely, the Pirates are among three teams -- the Tigers and Seattle Mariners are the others -- to have used the same five starters all season.

Two More Things From ... Ozzie Guillen

So, Chicago Cubs closer Ryan Dempster is quoted by a radio guy criticizing Ozzie Guillen’s sons and White Sox coaches for taking part in the Pierzynski-Michael Barrett brawl, which maybe the Guillen brood didn’t, and then Dempster says he didn’t really say it anyway, which didn’t deter Ozzie.

On his sons’ participation: “Well, if my kids were on the field, [Dempster] was going to get his butt kicked. What’s Ozzie [Jr.] going to do? Eat somebody? My other one is 20 pounds and the other one is only 14 [years old]. ... One is a baby, one is too little, another one [Ozzie Jr.], the only thing he can do is eat somebody or drink somebody.”

On his coaches’ participation: “Good thing he’s thought about it, because he keeps pitching like [he is], he might be coaching pretty soon.”