Tyler Anderson stellar in MLB debut as Rockies take series from Padres

Colorado Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson was dominant in his big league debut, leading his team to a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres.

The Rockies’ 2011 first-round pick made his debut at age 26, five years after he was selected after missing the entire 2015 season with a fractured elbow.

Anderson pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts, throwing 60 of his 92 pitches for strikes. In addition, he recorded nine ground ball outs and just three fly outs.

Another Rockies first-round pick, Christian Friedrich, matched Anderson on the mound for the Padres. It was just the fourth time in history that Rockies first-rounders had faced off on the mound, the first since 2007 when Jeff Francis faced Jason Jennings.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Rockies loaded the bases with one out on a single by Charlie Blackmon, an error and a walk to Nolan Arenado before Carlos Gonzalez struck out and Friedrich walked Ryan Raburn, forcing in the game’s first run.

San Diego answered in the top of the seventh, which Alexei Ramirez led off with a double against Anderson and then scored when Rockies reliever Gonzalez Germen allowed a two-out single to Jon Jay, tying the game at 1-1.

The largest, and final, offensive blow of the game came when Mark Reynolds hit his fourth home run of the season leading off the bottom of the seventh against Padres reliever Kevin Quackenbush.

Germen then set the Padres down in the eighth and Jason Motte and Boone Logan finished the Padres off in the ninth, giving the Rockies a series win.

The Rockies now have their first off day in four weeks on Monday before starting a to-game series with the New York Yankees at Coors Field on Tuesday with Jorge De La Rosa scheduled to face Nathan Eovaldi in the series opener.