The good: Colorado has scored 33 runs in their past five games.
The bad: none of those came on Monday.
Colorado will look to turn around a three-game skid as they face the Padres for the fifth time this year. The Rockies ended their last series with San Diego on a Josh Fuentes walk-off, and they will look to match that late-series momentum in their final two games with San Diego until July.
Austin Gomber will take the ball for the Rockies; his last outing came in Denver against the same Padres he will see tonight. The lefty pitched 5 1⁄3 scoreless innings on May 12 and the Rockies would go on to win 3-2. Gomber did not face Fernando Tatís Jr., Wil Myers or Eric Hosmer in that outing, as the trio had just been placed on the COVID list. All three are inactive again tonight.
Gomber’s last start featured his highest single-game changeup percentage as a Rockie (20.5; season average of 11.1). He has generally used more curveballs on the road and more changeups at home, but he used his curve, slider and change at a near-equal mark in his last start. Gomber returns to sea level for his start at Petco Park tonight, so it will be interesting to monitor if his pitch selection was based more on elevation or Padres bats. One constant will remain with San Diego’s lineup tonight.
2018 AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell will toe the rubber for the Padres in his ninth start of the year. He also pitched in that May 12 contest but allowed two earned runs in four innings. It was his first start at Coors Field as a National League player.
Snell’s slider use has increased from 11.6 to 31.0 percent in his last five starts; of all eight outings this year, Wednesday in Colorado featured his second-highest slider percentage. Like Gomber, it will also be interesting to follow Snell’s slider use in a more favorable environment for breaking ball movement.
Tonight will feature the return of C.J. Cron from the injured list. Bud Black said that Cron would have been available on Monday but the Rockies opted to carry an additional reliever after using five of them on Sunday. The Padres used five relievers of their own on Sunday, too; three total relievers were used on Monday, so each bullpen has received some much-needed rest going into tonight.
Start Time: 8:10 p.m. MDT
TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, MLB.tv
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
#Rockies lineup tonight. Charlie Blackmon (mild groin strain) and CJ Cron (lower back) are both back.
— Danielle Allentuck (@d_allentuck) May 18, 2021
CF Garrett Hampson
SS Trevor Story
2B Ryan McMahon
1B CJ Cron
RF Charlie Blackmon
3B Josh Fuentes
LF Yonathan Daza
C Elias Díaz
P Austin Gimber
Zilla's on the bump.@snellzilla4 · #BUMPDAY pic.twitter.com/HGZhYZNclh
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 18, 2021