Rockies 8, Padres 3: A sweep on Father’s Day

Elías Díaz’s offensive contribution and a big fifth inning led the Rockies over the Padres

The Rockies did it all on Sunday. Solid pitching, timely hitting, and big blasts were enough to lead them over the Padres and complete the sweep, 7-3 on Father’s Day.

Senza’s solid Sunday

Antonio Senzatela seems to have really turned a corner lately, and that continued on Sunday. “Senza” worked around some traffic to throw six solid innings, allowing six hits and two walks with just one run against three strikeouts. It wasn’t a dominant outing by any stretch, but it’s the third straight quality start by Senzatela, who Rockies fans are happy to see return to form.

Díaz’s big day, part one

The Padres struck early thanks to that huge Luke Voit home run in the top of the second inning, but the Rockies struck back quickly in the bottom of the frame. With a runner on third and two outs, Elías Díaz came up to bat. Díaz has struggled at the plate this season, but came through with a base hit to score the Rockies’ first run and tie the game at 1-1. There was plenty of game to go, but any spark of offense has to feel good.

Five-spot in fifth

With the game still tied at one run apiece, the Rockies took up their bats to begin the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, newly-activated Garrett Hampson sent a sharp line drive to right field for a triple. After Yonathan Daza walked, Brendan Rodgers, in a 1-for-21 rut, then sent a ball right back up the middle to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead. After Snell struck out Blackmon, he felt C.J. Cron’s wrath as he singled to score Daza and make it 3-1.

The biggest blow was yet to come, however. That came in the form of Randal Grichuk, who welcomed San Diego reliever Steven Wilson to the game with a 3-run blast – his seventh long ball of the season – to give Colorado a five-run cushion.

Both Grichuk and Cron scored on the play, which is fitting as they now both own 163 career home runs.

Díaz’s big day, part two

Díaz wasn’t done after his RBI base hit. He struck again in the sixth inning, this time taking reliever Adrian Morejón deep for his third homer of the season.

It’s Díaz’s first long ball since April 29th, and just his second multi-RBI game this season. He also earned another RBI by way of a walk in the bottom of the seventh.

The bullpen struggled a bit (Lucas Gilbreath allowed a walk and a hit in his ²⁄₃ innings and Robert Stephenson allowed two earned runs in his 1 ¹⁄₃ ), but Carlos Estévez closed things out in the ninth without issue. A solid, complete victory for the Rockies completed the sweep of the Padres on Father’s Day.

Up Next

The Rockies are off on Monday as they travel to Miami for a set with the Marlins. When they play on Tuesday, Ryan Feltner (1-2, 4.85 ERA) will start for Colorado, while Daniel Castano (0-1, 0.00 ERA) is the probable starter for the Fish.

First pitch is at 4:40pm MDT. See you then!