Rockies homer thrice in road win over Padres

It’s becoming comical at this point. There is no way around it—so far, the 2018 Colorado Rockies are a better baseball team away from their home ballpark.

Getting three key home runs from players fans might not expect (or maybe even have wanted in the lineup in the first place) and six runs on10 hits, the offense did its part behind a so-so night for Colorado pitching to get the 6-4 win over the San Diego Padres.

The Rockies took the lead in the third employing a tactic that has often been used to great effect against them; getting the pitcher on base. Anderson was able to draw a one-out walk and move up on a Charlie Blackmon single, eventually scoring on a two-strike single off the bat of Nolan Arenado.

The Padres tied the game almost immediately, though, getting a lead-off double from Freddy Galvis in the bottom of the frame. He scored on a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt from Manuel Margot.

The inning ended in odd fashion when pitcher Joey Lucchesi, who returned his walk of Anderson by drawing one of his own, tried to score on a wild pitch and was thrown out at home plate by Chris Iannetta.

San Diego jumped in front after a series of unfortunate events unfolded for the Rockies in the bottom of the fourth. Christian Villanueva singled and was replaced at first base by Franchy Cordero after a fielder’s choice. It appeared as though Cordero had been thrown out attempting to steal second base but Anderson was called for a questionable balk which sometimes results from the strange hitch in his normal delivery.

The call ended up coming back to bite the Rockies when Trevor Story uncorked an uncharacteristic wild throw well over Ian Desmond’s head at first base, allowing the Padres to take a 2-1 lead.

But the see-saw continued again in the very next half-inning when the two newest members of the Rockies roster, Daniel Castro and Noel Cuevas, hit solo home runs to put Colorado back on top 3-2. It was the first home run for Castro in his Rockies career and the first for Cuevas in his MLB career.

Castro was only getting the start with the news that DJ LeMahieu needs another stint on the DL, this time with a thumb issue.

Of course, the lead didn’t last long as the Padres tied the game at three on a pair of doubles from Matt Szczur and Eric Hosmer.

For the sixth time in seven half-innings, there was scoring in the top of the sixth, but this time it was a crooked number as a couple of singles from Desmond and Iannetta set the stage for a three-run shot off the bat of Gerardo Parra.

The scoring kept going in the bottom of the sixth when Rockie-killer Galvis tripled with two outs to chase Anderson from the game. Reliever Bryan Shaw surrendered a single to A.J. Ellis, dropping the Rockies lead to 6-4. Shaw struck out Cory Spangenberg to end the inning. He worked through the seventh and walked Hosmer but induced a double play to end his night.

Adam Ottavino came on in the eighth and looked as good as he has all year, striking out the side for the fourth time this season, getting the job done in 11 pitches. He has 41 strikeouts in 23 innings of work and is sporting a 1.19 ERA.

Wade Davis pitched in the ninth and issued a two-out walk to Travis Jankowski bringing Margot to the plate as the potentiel tying runner, but he bounced one back to the mound that the Rockies closer handled, converting the out at first to earn his 16th save of the season and put the game away.

Colorado improved to 23-19, 16-8 out on the road.

Final Stats:

Tyler Anderson: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Bryan Shaw: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 3 K

Wade Davis: 1 IP

 

Gerardo Parra: 1-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (2)

Nolan Arenado: 3-for-4, 1 RBI, BB

Daniel Castro: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (1)

Noel Cuevas: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (1)

Ian Desmond: 1-for-4, 1 R, 3 K

 

What’s Next:

The final game of the two-game set will take place Tuesday afternoon, first pitch at 1:40 Moutain Time. German Marquez faces off against former-Rockie Jordan Lyles.