Padres 6, Rockies 1

Padres manager Bud Black was smiling at the podium, cracking jokes with the reporters. Must be better days in Padres land.

Scoreboard check: Padres 6, Rockies 1. Yep, better days.

The Padres' victory Sunday at PETCO Park was their second straight and secured their first series win since they took two of three games at Dodger Stadium from April 11-13.

"That's more like we expected to play baseball," Black said. "Good pitching, good bullpen work, solid defense, a couple homers."

Check, check, check, check.

You need more evidence that the dark days are clearing? Try this on for size: A Rockies runner was thrown out stealing while Chris Young was pitching!

If Friar John's check of the stat lines is correct, opponents had been successful on 56 straight steal attempts against Young. Although he has done a better job this year of holding runners and cutting down on the number of attempts, his 6-foot-10 frame and unique delivery made it next to impossible for catchers to get the ball to second base quickly enough to have a chance once a runner took off.

Until Sunday.

Rookie Luke Carlin ended the streak with a strong peg to second base in the sixth inning to nail Jonathan Herrera with room to spare. The force is strong in young Luke.

With starter Josh Bard resting his surgically repaired wrist, Carlin has had a heady first two days in the Big Leagues. First, he catches Greg Maddux's 350th win on Saturday. Then he ends Young's stolen-base streak and collects his first Major League hit, a double off Manny Corpas in the eighth inning.

No wonder Black was in a good mood.

For the record, the last runner caught stealing with Young pitching was Rajai Davis, then a rookie with Pittsburgh, on Sept. 22, 2006. Mike Piazza was the catcher.

FJ