The Colorado Rockies were properly clobbered by the San Diego Padres on Saturday night. They took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and attempted a comeback in the eighth, but were unsuccessful (as their pitching staff gave up four home runs over the course of the game).
The starter
Bradley Blalock struggled in the game, to say the least. He got Fernando Tatís Jr. to pop out to lead off the game, but then gave up a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ramón Laureano hit a sac fly to center, but then Mickey
Moniak was credited with an error on the throw to home plate. Jackson Merrill flied out to left to end the inning.
The second inning wasn’t any better, as Jake Cronenworth hit a single, but then Tatís smacked a two-run homer. In the third, Manny Machado led off with a solo homer and then Merrill hit another solo homer three batters later to bring the lead up to 5-1.
“Tatís hit a pitch that was executed right there,” Blalock said. “It was up and away, and that’s where my fastball is going to play. But (with) Machado, I’ve got to get it down. And then just left it a little too middle to Merrill. But I think I’ve just got to execute pitches with I get to two strikes. I think that was the key today. I didn’t execute those, and they took advantage.”
“He got ahead well, just with two strikes he had a tough time putting those hitters away,” echoed manager Warren Schaeffer. “It was good to see him get ahead, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to put guys away. And the pitch count rose because of that.”
In total, Blalock only pitched three innings and allowed five runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
The bullpen
Antonio Senzatela was called upon in relief in the fourth, pitching the next three innings… and things did not go as planned. After retiring Cronenworth, Senzatela gave up a single, a walk, and back-to-back singles. All four batters came around to score, as Machado’s single scored Elias Díaz and Tatís and Laureano hit a two-RBI double to score Luis Arráez and Machado. Every Padre batted in the fourth except for Ryan O’Hearn.
Senzatela settled during the next two innings, going 1-2-3 through the bottom of the order in the fifth and giving up a lead-off single in the sixth to Tatís, but then retiring Arráez, Machado and Gavin Sheets.
Ryan Rolison pitched the seventh, and retired all three batters he faced — two via swinging strikeouts.
“It was really nice to see [Rolison] do that,” said Schaeffer. “His physical presence looked good on the mound. It was good to see.”
Angel Chivilli came in for the eighth, and gave up a two-run homer to pinch-hitter Bryce Johnson (his first of the year).
The offense
Tyler Freeman played the part of Rockies offense tonight. He kicked things off with a lead-off double in the first and was driven in by Jordan Beck. In the third, he hit another double, but was stranded at third. In the eighth, he led off with a single and was driven home by Blaine Crim (alongside Beck).
“It was good to see [Freeman] do that, especially that first one — the hard-hit double then a pull-side double,” said Schaeffer. “When he’s good, he’s spraying the ball all over the field like we saw early on. But it was good to see him do that today.”
“The Crim Reaper” has had an excellent start to his Rockies career. While he has gone just 2-for-8 at the plate, both of his hits are multi-RBI extra-base hits. Last night, he hit a three-run homer in the fourth, and tonight he hit a two-RBI double in the eighth. In total, Crim has five RBI, six total bases and two strikeouts.
“Yeah, some power in the gap, I think that’s what he’s going to provide,” said Schaeffer. “In his first two days, he’s done that already so it’s something to build on.”
Up Next
The Rockies finish their four-game set in San Diego, still attempting to break the tie with the 2024 Chicago White Sox. Germán Márquez (3-13, 6.31 ERA) will take the mound against Yu Darvish (3-5, 5.65 ERA). First pitch is at 2:10pm MT.
