• Samantha Sais

The Tucson Padres wrap up their latest homestand tonight—and since there's no chance for a Thirsty Thursday this week, they're moving it to Wednesday, which is traditionally Wiener Wednesday. So you get hot dogs for a buck, beers for a buck and sodas for a buck, which is quite a deal as you watch your 401K shrink.

It's also Social Media Night, so if you say the secret words—which, this week, are Wacky Wednesday—at the box office, you get any seat in the park for just $4. And the same code words get you a 20-percent discount at the Friar Attire Store, so if you've been waiting to get a Padres jersey, tonight is the night!

Gates open at 6 p.m. and the game starts at 7. Details here.

And, courtesy of Tim Hagerty of the Padres, here's the score from last night. Anthony Rizzo had another great night, going 3-for-5:

The Tucson Padres lost a seven-run lead but later scored once in the sixth inning and held on to beat Oklahoma City, 8-7. Tucson sent ten batters to the plate in the second and scored runs on a two-run single by Guillermo Quiroz, RBI doubles by Steve Tolleson and Anthony Rizzo, as well as an RBI triple by Eric Patterson. With the Padres up 7-0, Oklahoma City came back in the fourth with a grand slam by Drew Locke, his third home run in two games, and then scored three runs on three hits in the fifth to tie the game.

With the score tied in the sixth inning, Rizzo hit a two-out RBI single to put the Padres ahead. Rizzo finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Matt Buschmann retired all six hitters he faced and was in the game at the time the Padres took their final lead to pick up his fifth win. Brad Brach allowed a one-out single to Koby Clemens in the bottom of the ninth, but Brach left the potential tying run on base and collected his sixth save in six tries.

The win ended a three-game losing streak by the Padres. Tucson scored the first run of the game for the first time in five days. Oklahoma City starter Dallas Keuchel was in the top five in ERA in the Double-A Texas League, but now has allowed 18 earned runs in his first two Triple-A starts, posting an ERA of 30.38. Eric Patterson was 4-for-5 in Monday’s win with a home run, triple and three RBIs.

• Samantha Sais

Big news: The Tucson Padres have worked out their lease at Kino Stadium for the 2012 season, so they're gonna be around next year. And given the stadium trouble in Escondido, there's a chance we could be fostering this scrappy orphan team for even longer—if Tucson baseball fans start getting out to the games...

And why not go? It's a big weekend at Kino Stadium as the Tucson Padres continue a homestand that will keep them here through next Wednesday, Aug. 10. Tonight is buck-beer night (co-sponsored by your friends at the Tucson Weekly), with domestic beers and soft drinks for only $1. Tomorrow night, they'll be giving away a car, for cryin' out loud—and a whole lot more! And on Saturday, you get a free Padres cap if you get there early enough. Details here.

Meanwhile, here's what happened on the field last night as the Padres beat the New Orleans Zephyrs, courtesy of the Padres' Tim Hagerty:

The Tucson Padres scored five times in the first inning and it was all they needed, beating New Orleans 5-4 Wednesday at Kino Stadium. Coming off a complete game shutout in his previous start, New Orleans starter Chris Volstad was pounded for five hits in the first inning. Steve Tolleson, Matt Clark and James Darnell each had doubles in the inning and Bobby Kielty smashed his third home run of the season.

• Samantha Sais

The Tucson Padres launch an eight-game homestand tonight as they take on the New Orleans Zephyrs at Kino Stadium.

And here's the bargain of the day: The grand old traditions of minor-league baseball—cheap tickets, cheap hot dogs and cheap cold beer—collide with the high-tech world of tomorrow at Social Media Night! Just say the secret word and you get in the ballpark for just $2, you get your domestic beers for $2 and you get hot dogs for a buck.

That secret word? "Rizzo." Padres slugger Anthony Rizzo, back from a rough start in the bigs, has been tearing up the Pacific Coast League. He was named PCL Player of the Week on Monday after batting .536 last week while hitting five homers and driving in 17 runs. The astonishing details:

Rizzo drove in at least one run in all seven of the week’s games to help him post a total of 17 RBI, which is the most by any hitter in Major and Minor League baseball over that time span. The left-handed slugger also belted a PCL-best five home runs, three of which came over three consecutive games between July 25th and 27th. In addition, Rizzo led the PCL in hits (15), extra-base hits (10), total bases (35), doubles (5) and slugging percentage (1.250). The Florida native recorded a .536 batting average during the week, registering two or more hits in six of his seven games.

After playing in 35 games for the San Diego Padres in June and July, Rizzo was optioned to Tucson on July 22nd. The 21-year-old is batting .371 over 62 games with Tucson, falling 13 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the second-best batting average in the PCL.

Get on out to some baseball this week. Beers are just a buck tomorrow night and they're giving away a car on Friday. First pitch is 7 p.m. Details here.

• Drivers are forced to turn right or left onto Speedway from Fourth Avenue.

Had your bike stolen? You ought to check with Sun Tran's lost and found. Here's why.

Plans are afoot to add upgrades to the most popular bike route in the city. The city is also hoping to create a bypass route to avoid the streetcar when it starts running. Check out the plans.

After four months of waiting a dangerous pothole on a popular bike route is fixed. Check it out.

Have a bicycle event you are training for? Find out why knowing your course inside and out can help you meet your goals. Read more.

[UPDATE: Now with the actual video that makes this amusing. Sorry.]

Sure, all real Americans celebrated when the NFL lockout ended on Monday, but we didn't really get to experience our joy fully until today when we get to really consider the place pro football holds in our lives with "Football's Back" by ATG and Illy Kay.

There are so many excellent lines to this track, but I think my favorites are probably

Tailgaitin’ already/ Drinking a brewski (No Tedy)/ Get super dome like a Saint/ Until they drop the confetti.

Brilliant.

[Egotrip]

While the new structure of the Pac-12 might make it slightly easier for the University of Arizona to make it to its first Rose Bowl, with the Wildcats only needing to be better than the other five teams (actually...USC is still ineligible for postseason play, so they could still finish behind the Trojans even) of the South division to make it to the Pac-12 Championship Game. Of course, they'd need to still win that game, but let's take things one step at a time.

As it stands, however, media members aren't too optimistic of their chances so far, with only one reporter picking them yesterday to finish first in the division:

1. USC (24 first-place votes), 230 points*
2. ASU (13), 207
3. Utah (4), 170
4. Arizona (1), 140
5. UCLA, 89
6. Colorado, 46

In other news, my Oregon State Beavers were picked fourth in the North division, set to be overshadowed by national championship runner-ups Oregon and the Andrew Luck-led Stanford Cardinal. So, at least I can likely share my misery with my fellow Tucsonans.

Hard to beat the deal at the Padres game Wednesday night: Tell the nice person at the ticket counter the magic word "Kino" and get any ticket in the house for $2, regular beers for the same price, and hot dogs for a single buck. I'll be taking my family there, and if it's enough of an entertainment value to get me out of the house, it must be something special.

• Michael McKisson/TucsonVelo.com
• New bike facilities were added to the Starr Pass Boulevard and Mission Road intersection.

One of Tucson's most complicated intersections gets a facelift with innovative bike infrastructure. Check out the photos and video from the intersection.

Do you have a great bikey photo? If so, submit it to the Tucson Velo Summer Photo Contest and win up to $120 in prizes. See the photos already submitted and the entire prize list.

The Tour de France wraps us this week, but thanks to a UA alum you can use his stickers to relive the tour's best climbs locally. Check it out.

BMX bike shop, Craycroft Cycles is more than just a bike shop to the kids it serves. Check out why.

New pavement markings, called Sharrows, carve out space for cyclists on University Boulevard. See what the markings look like.

Tonight at Kino Stadium, $1 from every ticket sold will help the family of this 5-year-old boy make ends meet.

More from the Padres' Facebook page:

This Thursday, the Tucson Padres will be helping raise money to benefit the family of Julian Aguirre; a 5 year old child that fought leukemia and died in June. His father is a Customs Agent and exhausted all of his resources. The family is really in a rough spot. They have medical, funeral, mortgage and living expenses that they are unable to pay. $1 of every ticket sold at the box office for Thursday will go to the Aguirre family.

It's also Thirsty Thursday, so you've got no reason to stay in tonight: go see the Padres, have a beer, and help out this family. Game time is 7 p.m.

• Samantha Sais

Tonight is Social Media Night at Kino Stadium... all you've got to do is say the magic word. Details from General Manager Mike Feder:

Go to the Box Office and say "Padres" and you will get in for $2 for any ticket price level, $2 for the regular beer when the gates open at 6:00 (cuts off at 9:00) AND $1 hot dogs! If we get a good crowd we'll bring it back next Wednesday.

The Padres play the Tacoma Rainiers at 7 p.m.