To say tonight was a tough game is putting it nicely. The San Diego Padres bludgeoned the Colorado Rockies by a score of three touchdowns to zero. Five home runs were hit (scoring nine runs)… only two Padre innings were scoreless… and the Rockies have officially allowed 8+ runs in six-straight games. That’s a franchise record, for those counting at home. They also allowed 24 hits, which is a Padres record.
It was a day.
Early deficit… again
The Rockies got off on the wrong foot to start the game. Bradley Blalock started off by giving up a leadoff walk to Fernando Tatís Jr. (which, spoiler alert, came back to haunt) but then got Luis Arraez to fly out. A passed ball moved Tatís to second, and then Manny Machado walked. Jackson Merrill singled to score Tatís, and then Xander Bogaerts singled to advance both runners. Jake Cronenworth grounded out, but Merrill scored to put the Padres up 3-0. Then, Gavin Sheets hit the Padres’ first homer of the night — a two-run shot — to run it up to 5-0 before Stephen Kolek even took the mound.
Blalock would go on to pitch 3 2⁄3 innings, allowing 12 runs (all earned) on 13 hits with three home runs, two walks and one strikeout.
Nick Martini not shaken
Nick Martini played the part of “Rockies offense” tonight as he was the only player to get multiple hits. Martini went 2-for-3 tonight, while Jordan Beck, Owen Miller (as a sub) and Hunter Goodman all recorded the other three hits of the night.
Hunter Goodman’s hit, in fact, broke up the Maddux that Kolek had going. All in all, Kolek threw 104 pitches in his complete-game shutout bid. And the 21-0 shutout was the worst in Rockies franchise history. More bad history.
Position Player Pitching Alert!
Things were so dire that Bud Black had to resort to a position player pitching in the later innings — something he hates doing (and openly admits to it). After subbing in Sean Bouchard and Owen Miller for Brenton Doyle and Ryan McMahon, the Rockies only had two position players available to pitch if needed (Alan Trejo pitched the other night, but was in the starting lineup tonight).
Jacob Stallings entered in the eighth inning, getting out the first two batters he faced (Merrill and Tyler Wade). Cronenworth then singled and was scored on a Sheets double to put up that 21st Padre run. But then Jason Heyward grounded out to end the threat and the scoring.
Stallings then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, which started with a looking strikeout of old friend Elias Díaz. In total, Stallings threw two innings and allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout.
Fun fact: Stallings had made nine pitching appearances in his MLB career. He pitched one inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019, eight innings (seven appearances) for the Miami Marlins in 2023, and now these two innings (one appearance… and, perhaps, counting) for the Rockies.
Up Next
The Rockies will look to flush this game and bounce back against the Padres tomorrow and avoid back-to-back sweeps (and an 0-6 home stand). Germán Márquez (0-6, 9.90 ERA) will face Padres’ right-hander Nick Pivetta (5-1, 2.01 ERA). First pitch is at 1:10pm MT.
