DENVER (AP) — Ethan Salas hit his first two major league homers and became the youngest catcher in history with a multi-homer game Wednesday night as the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3.
Salas led off the second inning with a first-pitch shot off Rockies starter Mason Adams (0-1) that went 426 feet over the wall in center field, becoming the youngest catcher to homer in the majors since 19-year-old Iván Rodríguez in 1991.
Salas added
a two-run homer that capped San Diego’s four-run fifth and made it 8-1. At 20 years, 107 days, he broke the record held by Butch Wynegar, who was 20 years, 192 days when he hit two home runs for Minnesota on Sept. 22, 1976.
San Diego (83-69) has won nine of 10 and entered the night with a 2 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the final NL wild-card spot. The Padres also prevented the rival Los Angeles Dodgers from clinching the NL West.
Robbie Ray (13-8) allowed three runs and three hits with six strikeouts in six innings for the Padres.
Samad Taylor and Ty France each drove in two runs for San Diego and Jackson Merrill had three hits.
France hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth added an RBI single to give the Padres a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Kyle Karros hit a two-run homer in the sixth for the Rockies and Adael Amador had an RBI groundout in the first.
Taylor singled to lead off the fourth, stole second base and scored on a triple by Dustin Harris to make it 4-1 and added a two-run single in the fifth.
Adams allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Padres RHP Michael King (11-9, 3.03 ERA) starts Thursday against RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.55) in the series finale.
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