The San Diego Padres trailed the Rockies for most of the day, but Gavin Sheets sparked a five-run, ninth-inning rally.
The San Diego Padres rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to earn a remarkable 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies, and Mason Miller tied the franchise record for scoreless innings at 33-2/3 as he notched his ninth save of the season. The key blow was a three-run, pinch-hit homer from Gavin Sheets to provide the winning margin in the ninth as the Padres won their sixth straight series of the season.
This was a typical back-and-forth Coors Field slugfest, but the Padres trailed for most of the day. The Rockies got on the board in the first on a Matt Moniak home run off starter Matt Waldron, and the Padres countered with a pair in the second as Miguel Andujar doubled home two after Manny Machado singled and Xander Bogaerts walked.
Waldron ran into the Coors Field buzzsaw after that as he gave up four runs in the second. The Rockies batted around during the two-out rally, with the RBI hits including singles by Edouard Julien and Troy Johnston and a double by TJ Rumfield that plated two to make it 5-2.
After that the two teams proceeded to swap single runs. The Padres got theirs in the fourth on a Ramon Laureano triple that drove in Jake Cronenworth, then a solo home run by Xander Bogaerts in the fifth. The Rockies countered with a squeeze bunt by Tyler Freeman that scored Julien in the fourth, and a solo homer by Mike Moniak in the sixth to make it 7-4.
The Rockies pulled away in the seventh with a run off Rod Marinaccio as Troy Johnson singled home Tyler Freeman after Freeman doubled to make it 8-4. But the Padres bounced back to make it 8-5 as Ramon Laureano singled to score Felix Fermin.
Waldron exited after five for San Diego as he wound up giving up six runs on eight hits, and Adrian Morejon gave up Morejon’s solo shot as Rod Marinaccio surrendered Colorado’s final run. The Rockies used a seres of pitchers, with the sequence including Ryan Feltner, Zach Agnos, Seth Halvorsen and Juan Mejia, and they were all able to preserve the lead until closer Victor Vodnik entered.
That was when the game changed completely. Vodnik was unable to get a single out, and the scoring started when Bogaerts had yet another RBI single to bring home Jackson Merrill. Miguel Andujar continued the hit parade with yet another RBI sign to score Manny Machado to make it 8-7, and then it was Sheets’ turn. His long home run into the right-field corner brought home Bogaerts and pinch runner Bryce Johnson, and from there it was Miller time.
Miller didn’t strike out anyone, and he did give up a hit for a change. But a grounder to second and a double-play ball gave him the three outs he needed to put this one away as Miller tied Cla Meredith for the franchise record.
The two teams combined to pound out 27 hits and score 18 runs, and the majority of the hits were singles. The Padres have now scored 24 runs in the ninth inning this season, which is the most in MLB, so they've been doing this sort of thing a lot. The win kept the series win streak alive at six, and they’ll now travel to Arizona to start an oddly-timed, two-game set on Saturday.