From: Austin
Former South Carolina third bagger, James Darnell, will make his MLB debut tonight for the San Diego Padres in New York against the Mets. Darnell was called up when Padres' third basemen, Chase Headley, fractured a finger last weekend. He arrived in New York at 6 am Monday, but his luggage got lost along the way. Seeing this, manager Bud Black gave Darnell the night off, and he is expected to make his debut tonight. In another blessing, he will not have to face Mets' knuckleballer R.A. Dickey until his second game. "Congrats on getting called up, and oh by the way, you get to face a knuckleballer." That would be challenging. Chris Capuano will take the hill for the Mets tonight. He is 9-10 on the year with a 4.44 era.
Darnell was hitting .317 with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Tucson. He is expected to play some left field for the Padres as well. After the completion of the series in New York, the Padres travel to the home run friendly Great American Ballpark to face the Reds. 1st bomb?
