Rockies lackluster in home loss to Padres

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies couldn’t get the big hit late or keep the San Diego Padres off the board early, losing a lackluster contest 4-3 in their first game back at Coors Field in a week.

Starter Tyler Anderson was not sharp early but recovered to salvage a decent outing, though he arguably threw too many pitches in the zone, especially when already ahead in the count.

Anderson had the first batter of the game, Freddy Galvis, down 0-2 but caught too much of the strike zone with a cutter and paid for it with a double down the right-field line. He was able to jog home when Eric Hosmer ambushed a first-pitch fastball, launching it over the wall in center for a 438-foot, two-run home run.

The Rockies had a chance to answer right back, getting a one-out single from DJ LeMahieu and catching a break when Wil Myers mishandled a Nolan Arenado groundball, turning what could have been an inning-ending double play into a first-and-second, one-out situation. Trevor Story hit the ball hard up the middle in the next at-bat but right at Robbie Erlin on the mound who was able to make a nice play and turn the double play anyway.

The Padres added another run in the second thanks to a pair of singles from Franmil Reyes (who Anderson once against had down 0-2) and Manuel Margot followed by a sac bunt from Erlin and a sac fly from Galvis.

But the Rockies answered back in the third with a two-out rally. Charlie Blackmon laced a ball into the right-field corner and sprinted all the way to third for a triple. That extra base paid off huge when LeMahieu hit his second straight grounder up the middle that Galvis was able to haul in but not make a play on, going for an RBI single.

Arenado looked for a moment like he had tied the game with a deep drive to right-center but the ball didn’t quite make it out and the slugger had to settle for a double. LeMahieu raced around the bags from first to score, pulling the Rockies to within one.

Anderson settled in and had relatively uneventful innings in the third and fourth but found trouble again in the fifth after back-to-back one-out singles from Myers and Hosmer. That was compounded when Chris Iannetta whiffed on a pitch behind the plate for a passed ball that allowed both runners to advance. But Anderson got Hunter Renfroe to pop up on the infield and struck out Christian Villanueva to strand them.

In that at-bat, Iannetta had to be checked on after taking a foul tip off the arm. But the arm appeared fine when he led off the bottom of the fifth by ripping a home run over the wall in left, his ninth round-tripper of the year, to time the game at three runs apiece.

But the tie only lasted as long as it took for the Padres to untie it. Austin Hedges opened the sixth by turning on an inside cutter and blasting it to left. Anderson bounced back to strike out the side.

He continued on into the seventh and got Galvis looking then surrendered a bloop single to right. An unusual throwing error from Arenado allowed Hosmer to reach and Myers to get to third, ending Anderson’s night. Scott Oberg came on and was able to strand both runners by inducing a pair of weak groundouts.

Seunghwan Oh pitched the eighth and struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a single to Margot and walking Cory Spangenberg but he got Galvis to ground out to second to end the threat.

Colorado had a great chance to tie it or even take the lead in the eighth after singles from a pinch-hitting Gerardo Parra and Blackmon led things off. They moved up on a sac bunt from LeMahieu and the bases were loaded after an intentional pass of Arenado. But Trevor Story went outside the zone on a couple of pitches, striking out swinging and Carlos Gonzalez swung at the first pitch, grounding out to second.

Adam Ottavino took the top of the ninth and struck out the side in order, producing one of the ugliest swings of Hosmer’s career.

Iannetta drove the ball to the track with two outs in the ninth, but it fell into the glove of Renfroe just shy of the wall to end the game.

Final Stats:

Tyler Anderson: 6.1 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

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

Seunghwan Oh: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Charlie Blackmon: 2-for-4, 1 R

DJ LeMahieu: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Nolan Arenado: 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Chris Iannetta: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI (HR: 9)

What’s Next:

The second game of the series sees Jon Gray take on Jacob Nix. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.