The Rockies dropped a late night matchup against the Padres, 7 to 5. The Rockies held the lead late into the game, but couldn’t hold on as the Padres got to LaTroy Hawkins for three runs in the eighth inning.
Charlie Blackmon led off the game with a line drive to right field, and eventually ended up at third base after an errant pick-off throw and a wild pitch from James Shields. Carlos Gonzalez broke open the scoring (literally) with a broken bat RBI ground out to score Blackmon.
The Padres quickly answered back, getting a runner in scoring position for Justin Upton, who drove home Matt Kemp on a long sacrifice fly to center field. Kendrick then quickly forced a ground out from Carlos Quentin to end the inning.
Kendrick found himself in a dangerous situation in the third inning, loading the bases with only one out. A fly out to right field gave Carlos Gonzalez a chance to show his arm strength when he fired an absolute bullet to home plate, keeping the runner at third. Gonzalez would later leave the game after reportedly tweaking his left knee on the throw. Kendrick induced a final fly out to left field to get himself out of the jam.
Colorado was able to chase starting pitcher James Shields out of the game in the fourth inning after a two run single from Tim Wheeler, who replaced Gonzalez. Shields threw 95 pitches and allowed five runs (three earned) over four and a third innings.
Kyle Kendrick was relieved in the bottom of the fifth after throwing 81 pitches and scattering eight hits while allowing three earned runs. Kyle Kendrick might not have looked sharp tonight, but he got the job done. He worked his way through the Padres lineup and shut down their offense whenever he got into trouble. In the regular season it’s likely we would have seen Kendrick finish the inning, but it was a perfect opportunity to test out young relief pitcher Jairo Diaz with runners on base.
Diaz managed to get the final two outs of the inning, but was shaky in his appearance. Diaz location was off as he gave up a hit, threw a wild pitch, and hit a batter. Diaz is battling for a bullpen spot and will hope to finish off the last two weeks of spring training strong. His spring ERA stands at 7.11.
Boone Logan came in for an inning of relief and looked magnificent, mixing up his pitches and keeping hitters off balance. He allowed a hit, but got a pop up, a ground out, and a strike out. Logan has a spring ERA of 1.50.
The Rockies went into the eighth inning still holding onto a 5-4 lead, until the Padres strung together a rally and tagged LaTroy Hawkins for three runs. Hawkins was almost able to stop the bleeding and keep the game tied, but a deep fly ball to left field bounced off Max White's glove and allowed two runs to score. The Padres were able to set down the Rockies in order in the ninth and finish off the ballgame for the victory.
The Rockies fall to 13-11 while the Padres jump above .500 with a record of 12-11.
Colorado will play the Chicago Cubs tomorrow at 4:05 ET. Jon Gray will be pitching in place of Tyler Matzek, which could possibly be part of the Rockies plan to have Gray in the rotation to start the season. It's only speculation at this point, but definitely something to keep an eye on.