The San Diego Padres have won three straight against Colorado, and last night the Padres won a game of home run derby.
The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies yesterday, 9-5, and if you just scanned the boxscore you might have thought this one was played at Coors Field. The game featured plenty of home runs on both sides, with Manny Machado and Ramon Laureano connecting for the Padres as Mickey Moniak hit a pair of homers to go with another from Edouard Julien for Colorado.
This wasn’t good night to be a starting pitcher. Colorado scored early and often off of starter German Rodriguez, a former Rockies’ rotation staple who was feeling especially generous toward his old teammates. The Rockies plated a pair in the first on Moniak’s first homer, which was a two-run shot, and Julien followed with his solo shot in the third. Not to be outdone, Moniak his a solo homer in the same frame to make it 4-0.
The Padres quickly fought back in the bottom of the third, courtesy of Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado. Merrill contributed an RBI groundout, and Machado’s two-run bomb closed the gap to 4-3.
San Diego took the lead the next inning on yet another home run, this one from leadoff man Ramon Laureano, who’s been carrying the Padres at times with his strong start. The three-run shot made it 6-4, and the Padres piled on in the sixth when starting second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. (!?) drew a bases-loaded walk and Merrill added an RBI double for two more.
That made it 9-4, with Colorado getting a token run in the ninth on an RBI single from Moniak as the Padres bullpen picked up Marquez with four innings of one-run relief. The big add here was Jason Adam, who picked up his first save of the year by getting a single out in relief of Bradgley Rodriguez.
The Padres have now taken three straight from Colorado, and they’ve won seven of their last eight. Their winning ways have to be a huge relief to manager Craig Stammen, who’s been waiting for this kind of offensive display.
“We’ve got good players,” Stammen said in a piece written by AJ Cassavell. “And they can hit homers.”
The Rockies staff did their part, and in some ways this was business as usual for the Pads. Colorado rode some strong pitching to a .500 record coming in, but now they look more like the Rockies the Padres have come to know and love. San Diego will try to complete the sweep today as Nick Pivetta gets the start against Kyle Freeland of Colorado.