"An hour before Sunday's first pitch, Padres manager Bud Black had second thoughts about starting Ryan Ludwick in his first afternoon in a Padres uniform.

"Ryan got in late last night," explained Black. "I wanted him to settle in. I know that feeling of changing teams. A lot of things are moving fast. Ryan felt ready to go, but coming off the calf injury and everything, I changed my mind."

So Black rewrote his starting lineup and scratched Ludwick, who was on the DL with a sore calf from July 3 through July 24.

Besides, even if Ludwick didn't start, Black thought there would come a time Sunday that the outfielder's bat would come into play against Florida's Cy Young Award candidate, Josh Johnson.

It did.

And Ludwick, who came to the Padres on Saturday in a trade with St. Louis, made the most of the opportunity."