DENVER – The last time the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies met at Coors Field, they combined for 92 total runs during a four-game set, the most in the modern era.
It was mid-June and the Rockies had just climbed out of eight-game hole to pull into second place in the NL West thanks to a .682 winning percentage over their last 22 games. En route to a series split that had “sweep” written all over it, Colorado’s season fell apart.
Just one day before Padres’ Joey Lucchesi and Rockies’ Jeff Hoffman took the field for their respective clubs in the first matchup of these clubs in the Centennial State since a pair of debacles with the Friars on June 16 (16-12 extra-inning loss) and June 18 (14-13 loss), Colorado was officially eliminated from the National League Wild Card race.
With an eye on exacting some revenge, your pals in purple came out swinging. First, it was Garrett Hampson with a one-out single, immediately followed by a Nolan Arenado home run, his 40th of the season, to put their club ahead 2-0 in the opening frame.
Arenado’s third season with 40 or more home runs makes him just the second player in franchise history, joining Vinny Castilla, with as many successful seasons. It also places Arenado in an elite group of third baseman who have achieved the same feat (minimum 75% of games at third base): Castilla and Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews.
After adding a run in the second, Trevor Story and Hampson hit back-to-back home runs, the sixth for the Rox this season, during a five-run fourth that seemingly put the game out of reach and staked Colorado to an 8-2 lead.
Story mashed another home run in his next at bat in the sixth, a 436 ft blast over the center field wall, his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 14th of his career, giving the talented shortstop his 31st and 32nd of 2019. His nine games in the past two years is tied for most in all of baseball.
Hoffman managed to make it into the sixth with an opportunity for a quality start, even with six walks on his ledger at that point. A two-run homer to Austin Hedges with the pitcher on deck and first base open was his only epic error, escaping several self-imposed jams throughout the night.
“Ball strike ratio wasn’t great, but I told him after the game his last 40 pitches were better than his first 50,” Black said of Hoffman’s performance. “He battled. I loved how he pitched. He competed.”
In Hoffman’s final frame during a five-run sixth by the Padres, Wes Parsons entered to minimize the damage, but a walk and two singles by Luis Urias and pinch hitter Ty France only exacerbated the situation. Bryan Shaw made it interested by loading the bases before recording the final out of the inning.
DJ Johnson gave up a run in the seventh after Josh Naylor scored following a double, wild pitch and fielder’s choice to bring the score to within one.
The razor thin lead was held in tact courtesy of Denver’s most dynamic duo, Carlos Estevez and Jairo Diaz. Estevez recorded a 1-2-3 eighth and Diaz earned his fourth save of the season with a double play and punch out to punctuate the victory.
The Rockies 10-8 win snaps an eight-game streak of scoring three or fewer runs since September 3, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history.
