Kevin Towers: Padres' resident genius?

If you’re going to Las Vegas any time soon, take Padres general manager Kevin Towers with you.

Why? It seems like everything he touches turns into a winner.

Just take his recent acquisitions for example and tell us how:

Scott Hairston hits three consecutive home runs, including a game-winner, after he replaces the injured Milton Bradley.
Morgan Ensberg homers in his first at bat as a first baseman when Adrian Gonzalez gets a rare night off.
Michael Barrett doesn’t succeed behind the plate, but his presence spurs Josh Bard on to greater heights.

Then there are the pitching miracles:

Tim Stauffer starts in place of the injured Chris Young and gets racked. The Padres still win.
Wil Ledezma starts for David Wells after Wells is cut, and Ledezma gets knocked around. The Padres win again.

The list goes on and on concerning how the Padres have conquered the odds this year.

Speaking of odds, don’t bet against Towers when he makes moves that may not appear that great on paper.

Bonds will break record in San Diego

Bad news for Padres fans.

Barry Bonds is going to break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record in San Diego this weekend.

Doesn’t it figure he will do it against the Padres?

After all, Bonds has 86 career home runs against San Diego. He does not have more than 65 against any other team.

Bonds also hit No. 700 off Jake Peavy of the Padres.

And speaking of the Padres, aces Chris Young and Peavy will not pitch this weekend against San Francisco.

Bonds probably won’t hit record-breaker No. 756 Friday night against Greg Maddux. But don’t be surprised if it comes Saturday against Tim Stauffer or Sunday off Justin Germano.

Let’s hope we’re wrong. Just the thought of Bonds breaking the record in San Diego makes me ill.