McCade Brown’s solid start and Colorado’s bullpen work was top-notch, but that didn’t matter when the lineup was essentially nonexistent. The Rockies once again found themselves floundering at the plate as they dropped the opener of a four-game set with the Padres in a drab Thursday night affair.
Padres pounce
McCade Brown has had an inauspicious start to his big league career, with each of his first three starts seeing him surrender multiple runs in losses. He managed to hold his own through the first two innings
of Thursday’s outing, but saw trouble in the bottom of the third.
Freddy Fermin’s one-out single served as San Diego’s first hit of the game and set the table for the top of their lineup. Brown managed to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr (congrats on your first Major League strikeout, McCade!), but spiked a slider that allowed Fermin to move to second on the wild pitch. That proved costly as Luis Arraez then singled to right field, scoring Fermin and handing the Padres a 1-0 lead.
Brown did get out of the inning without further damage, but the Rockies once again found themselves facing a deficit that they’d have to overcome, a task that would not be easy in pitcher-friendly Petco Park.
The home team would double their lead in the bottom of the fourth when Jackson Merrill took Brown deep to left field for his 11th home run of the season.
Not great.
Opportunities foiled
Randy Vásquez proved to be nigh-unhittable on Thursday as he left Rockies hitting flailing throughout his start. There were few moments of fleeting hope for Colorado’s offense, though some such moments did exist. One of these came in the top of the second when Brenton Doyle doubled to open the frame but was stranded there after Vásquez recorded key punchouts of Yanquiel Fernández and Michael Toglia.
The top of the sixth saw Mickey Moniak single with one out and steal second base to potentially set up the heart of the order to put some runs on the board. Instead, Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck struck out, and Colorado again left an opportunity wasted.
Through six innings, the Rockies recorded four hits and struck out nine times. Eesh.
A sigh of relief
If there’s a positive to be gained from this game, it’s the work exhibited by the Rockies pitching staff. McCade Brown turned in easily his finest performance as a pro, going 4 1/3 and working around five hits and two walks to hold the Padres to just two runs.
Jaden Hill then entered in relief, throwing 1 2/3 frames while striking out three and allowing no base runners. Hill ceded the mound to Jimmy Herget, who himself tossed a scoreless seventh inning. In the eighth, Victor Vodnik worked around a leadoff knock from Luis Arraez to keep things clean.
Colorado’s bullpen was excellent on the night, in total ceding just one hit while striking out five. In any other game, they might have been the fire that lit up a comeback.
Unfortunately, that was not to be. The Rockies could find absolutely no footing against the Padres bullpen, who retired the last 11 hitters they faced. Colorado’s lineup was struck out 14 times, once again finding themselves utterly outclassed on what’s been a brutal trip out West.
Sorry, I know this wasn’t exactly an exciting recap, but there was little else to see on this dreary evening.
Up Next
The Rockies will try to wake the bats up on Friday as they continue their west coast road trip. Colorado will send Tanner Gordon (5-6, 6.60 ERA) to the mound, while San Diego is yet to announce their starter as of this writing.
That game begins at 7:40pm MDT. See you then!
