The Colorado Rockies scoffed at the thick marine layer in San Diego, blasting three home runs and ripping a trio of opposite-field doubles to power a 7-4 victory over the Padres in the first of a four-game series on Monday night.
Charlie Blackmon did what he does best—he set the tone—with an opposite-field double just inside the third baseline in the first at-bat of the game. He moved up to third on a DJ LeMahieu single and scored on a screaming line drive from Nolan Arenado that went down as a sacrifice fly.
LeMahieu worked his way aboard via a walk in the third and moved up on a ball in the dirt. Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Desmond followed with back-to-back impressions of what Blackmon did in the first to score another pair of runs.
Arenado walked to lead off the fifth and scored on Ian Desmond’s second home run of the season, a deep drive over the wall in right-center field.
Blackmon and LeMahieu went back-to-back in the top of the ninth to extend the lead out to 7-2. It was Blackmon’s fourth homer of the year already and DJ’s second. LeMahieu told us on Opening Day that he was trying to hit the ball harder this year and he has so far.
Chad Bettis pitched remarkably well considering he never seemed to gain consistent command of his fastball. Using a healthy dose of sliders, change-ups, and curveballs, though, he was able to keep the San Diego offense from mounting any sustained rallies.
He was tagged by a Wil Myers home run in the first and gave up a pair of doubles to Eric Hosmer and Carlos Asuaje in the third for another run and he walked four batters which is far less than ideal. But he was able to work out of the traffic, including a bases-loaded jam in the third.
He was replaced by Adam Ottavino who continues to look like he did before he had his Tommy John surgery; which, for those of you who missed that, was one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. He looked to have struck out the side for his third straight appearance but didn’t get the call on a front-door two-seemer to Manuel Margot who managed to line out softly to third base.
Jake McGee also looks fantastic in his early work, putting together another clean inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Cory Spangenberg took Chris Rusin deep in the bottom of the ninth. Colorado’s most reliable reliever from a year ago stumbled again, walking Hunter Renfroe and then surrendering an RBI triple to Jose Pirela.
Manager Bud Black was forced to bring in his closer, Wade Davis, who got Asuaje to pop out to left, earning his second save of the season.
Final Stats:
Ian Desmond: 2-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR
Charlie Blackmon: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 1 RBI, HR
Carlos Gonzalez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2B
DJ LeMahieu: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, HR
Chad Bettis: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER 0 BB, 2 K
Bryan Shaw: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB 0 ER
Jake McGee: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
