Padres crush Rockies behind Villanueva's three shining moments

It’s been a good week to have “Villa” in your name.

As Villanova is still celebrating a National Championship, San Diego Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva was shooting the lights out with three monstrous home runs and five Rockies-killing RBI. He reached base in every at-bat he took and scored four runs in the Padres 8-4 win.

Kyle Freeland pitched well to everyone except Villanueva who launched two massive home runs deep to left field in his first two at-bats of the game. The lefty managed to get deeper into a game than any other Rockies starter this year by recording an out in the sixth; a strikeout of Eric Hosmer. He had six in the game, which also leads the starting unit in the early going.

But a single from Jose Pirela and a double from Hunter Renfroe chased him from the game in the sixth. Bud Black went with Scott Oberg with the Rockies clinging to a one-run lead and runners at second and third with one out.

Oberg plunked Villanueva with his first pitch, loading the bases. He got Freddy Galvis to a two-strike count and induced a hard ground ball but it found the hole on the right side, scoring a pair of runs and giving the Padres the lead.

The third run of the inning came in on a swinging bunt from Carlos Asuaje as Villanueva narrowly avoided the tag at the plate.

It was Antonio Senzatela’s turn in the seventh. A single to Pirela and a walk to Renfroe might not have been disastrous if not for the zone Villanueva was in. Almost predictably, he blasted his third homer of the game, putting the Padres way out ahead at 8-3.

Freeland ignited a third-inning rally with his bat, singling up the middle with one out. Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu were subsequently walked, setting the stage for a bases-loaded double off the bat of the King of Clutch, Nolan Arenado. LeMahieu was thrown out at home on the play.

Chris Iannetta drove in a run with a single in the fourth. Oddly enough, Trevor Story was thrown out trying to move up to third base on the play, meaning that the first two scoring plays for Colorado in the game also featured an out on the bases. The catcher added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 8-4; the final.

Final Stats:

Rockies:

Kyle Freeland: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Scott Oberg: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Antonio Senzatela: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB

Nolan Arenado: 1-for-4, 2 RBI

Chris Iannetta: 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Padres:

Christian Villanueva: 3-for-3, 4 R, 5 RBI, 3 HR

Jose Pirela: 2-for-4, 2 R

Tyson Ross: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

What’s Next:

The third game of the series sees Jon Gray make his second start of the season, facing off against Clayton Richard. First pitch at 8:10 MST.