Padres 13, Rockies 9: Late life, but not quite enough

The offense fought back, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback against the Padres on Friday

The Colorado Rockies offense showed more life on Friday than they’ve shown in what seems like ages, but unfortunately they couldn’t climb out of the early hole that the San Diego Padres had dug. Though there were positives, but San Diego simply would not be overcome as they took the first game of the weekend.

Another early hole

Antonio Senzatela was lucky to escape the first inning having allowed just one run, especially after allowing four straight hits to lead off the game. With the bases loaded and nobody out, a key line drive double play helped Senza end the first inning without allowing further damage.

Unfortunately, San Diego struck again in the third inning, this time with force. What appeared a ground out from Fernando Tatis Jr. to begin the frame instead bounced out of the glove of Kyle Farmer, allowing Tatís to reach base. He moved to second on Luis Arráez’s subsequent single before scoring on Jackson Merrill’s fourth double of the season.

Jake Cronenworth then walked to load the bases once again. Gavin Sheets made sure to take advantage by lacing a line drive down the left field foul line, scoring three more runs and putting Colorado into an early 5-0 deficit.

Not ideal.

Toglia’s tank

At least someone is showing some fight, right?

Michael Toglia’s experienced his fair share of difficulties on offense this season, but he can still crank the long ball when he properly connects. That’s what happened in the bottom of the fourth, when he took an inside cutter and crushed it into the San Diego bullpen.

This was, as it turns out, a harbinger of things to come.

Padres keep pounding

Things really got ugly in the middle innings.

With two on and one out, Cronenworth grounded into what seemed like a possible double play ball to end the inning. Instead, while Farmer was able to get the lead runner at second base, Adael Amador’s throw back to first bounced away from Toglia and allowed San Diego’s sixth run to score.

The three straight hits that followed — a Gavin Sheets double, a Jason Heyward single, and a Martín Maldonado home run suddenly turned the game from a loss to what seemed to be a blowout.

It’s the third straight game in which the Rockies allowed at least ten runs, and the fifth straight in which they allowed at least eight. Owning the highest WHIP and opponent batting average in MLB, it’s clear that Colorado’s pitching staff is in a special kind of rut right now.

Senzatela’s final line stood at eight runs allowed (though just four earned) in 4 ²⁄₃ innings on nine hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.

Late life…lots!

Ryan McMahon got off to a historically tough start this season, but has seemingly started to turn a corner. Hitting over .300 this month, Mac is starting to find his groove again, and he continued to build back as he smashed his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Jordan Beck contributed with a home run of his own in the bottom of the eighth. His sixth of the season, Beck’s homer increased his hitting streak to eight games and granted him sole position of the top spot in the team’s long ball leaderboard.

Consecutive knocks by McMahon and Beck then put runners on base for Farmer, who doubled them both home before scoring himself on a Sean Bouchard single to inch Colorado closer. An RBI hit from Brenton Doyle brought the score to 13-7 before the inning finally ended.

The ninth inning added more fireworks when a leadoff McMahon single precipitated a run from an RBI triple off the bat of Hunter Goodman. He would then score on a Mickey Moniak sacrifice fly to bring the Rockies within four.

After Michael Toglia walked and Kyle Farmer singled (happy 500 career knocks, Kyle!), the Rockies, who had once faced a double-digit deficit, now found themselves with the tying run on deck. Would the comeback truly be on?

Unfortunately, no. San Diego’s closer, Robert Suarez, entered the game to shut things down. He got Bouchard to ground into a double play to end the threat, the underdog story, and the game.

Up Next

The Padres and Rockies will lock horns once again on Saturday in game two of their series. That contest will see Stephen Kolek (1-0, 0.00 ERA) make just his second MLB start of his career opposite Bradley Blalock (0-1, 8.03 ERA). Will the Rockies allow ten runs for the fourth straight contest? Let’s find out.

That game starts at 6:10pm MST. See you then!