Padres 8, Rockies 7: Rockies offense fall short in bottom of the ninth in home opener loss

After a 35 minute weather delay, the Padres beat the Rockies 8-7. Tommy Pham’s three-run home run broke a 5-5 tie game in the top of the ninth to take the Rockies home opener, and end Colorado’s four-game winning streak.

Chuck goes off early

Charlie Blackmon got the Rockies on the board in the first inning with a 446-foot shot to center field to drive in Trevor Story to take the lead 2-0. The Rockies maintained a 2-0 lead into the sixth where things started to get dicey for Gray.

Sixth inning ignites battle of the bats

The Rockies maintained their 2-0 lead through the top of the sixth when Padres third basemen Manny Machado ignited a scoring spree with an RBI single to drive in Jake Cronenworth, who made his MLB debut earlier this week. The Padres scored two more runs to take a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. Matt Kemp put the Rockies back in the lead with a line drive double to bring in Ryan McMahon and Sam Hilliard to regain a 4-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

The batters duel continued into the seventh. The Padres scored right away to tie the game 4-4, but not for long. Story answered with a go-ahead opposite side home run to take back the lead 5-4 — his third home run of the year.

Ninth inning trouble

Tatis answered the Rockies lead in the top of the ninth with a two-out line drive home run to center field tie the game 5-5. Tommy Pham followed with a three-run home run to bring the Padres lead to 8-5 with two outs on the board. The Rockies fought back in the bottom of the inning with a single from Blackmon to drive in David Dahl to bring the score to 8-6, followed by a run walked in to bring it to 8-7. Unfortunately, the Rockies couldn’t bring in any more runs, and the final out was made with the bases loaded.

What a home opener though!

Gray shines through six

Gray finished the game going 5 ²⁄₃ innings pitched, allowing four hits and two strikeouts. His ERA for the season is now 3.84. Prior to tonight’s game, Gray was 10-4 with a 2.97 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) against San Diego. Last year, Gray was 6-2 with a 3.46 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) at Coors Field. Garrett Richards went 5 ²⁄₃ innings for the Padres with six strikeouts. Craig Stammen collected the win and Drew Pomeranz converted the save, with Wade Davis taking the loss.

Up Next:

The Rockies will continue their home opening series tomorrow night with Kyle Freeland on the hill against the Padres at 6:10 p.m. MT.