Ethan Salas had been mired in an 0-for-15 slump since he was called up to the MLB roster by the San Diego Padres before he logged his first hit in the form of a triple against the San Francisco Giants. That slump is just a thing of the past for the top prospect who hit his first big league home run and led the Padres to a 9-3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday.
Salas connected on a solo home run to center field to lead off the top of the second inning, which put San Diego ahead of Colorado,
3-1. Two is always better than one, so Salas hit his second career home run and second of the game in the top of the fifth inning when he hit a two-out, two-run home run just over the wall in right field which put the Padres ahead, 8-1.
Salas had a career day at the plate and that was in support of his battery mate Robbie Ray. The veteran left-hander cruised through much of the game, holding the Rockies to one run on one hit until he reached the bottom of the sixth inning. Ray allowed his second hit of the game with a leadoff double to Connor Norby. He then allowed a one-out, two-run home run to Kyle Karros before completing the inning and finishing his day. Ray walked off the mound after the sixth inning with a 9-3 lead.
The Padres offense continued to hit Rockies pitching, adding another 13 hits in the game, which give them 37 hits over the first three games of the series. The main statistic for San Diego in their six-run win on Wednesday was 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Jackson Merrill stayed hot and finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored. Dustin Harris, Jake Cronenworth and Samad Taylor all finished with multiple hits in the game.
Ray was replaced on the mound by David Morgan in the seventh inning and he pitched two scoreless frames before handing the ninth inning over to Yuki Matsui to secure the win.
The Padres will try to win the series when they face the Rockies today at 12:10 p.m.
Padres News:
- With each day that passes the magic number for the Padres to clinch a postseason berth gets smaller and they may have a chance to clinch prior to the final series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- A.J. Preller and his staff have had a successful year finding MLB talent on the cheap.
- Lake Elsinore got no-hit and suffered a disappointing playoff loss.
Baseball News:
- Pete Crow-Armstrong hit two home runs and led the Chicago Cubs to a win over the Atlanta Braves.
- Pete Alonso homered and helped the Baltimore Orioles keep their postseason hopes alive.
- The Cleveland Guardians took over the top spot in the AL Central with a win over the Chicago White Sox.
- The Philadelphia Phillies topped the Washington Nationals with a solid start from Zack Wheeler.
- Sandy Alcantara got his first career save and helped the Miami Marlins hold on to a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
