Padres 3, Rockies 0: Musgrove stifles Rockies

The Colorado Rockies fell to the San Diego Padres 3-0. It’s the club’s fourth sweep of the season. All four of the sweeps have been on the road, which is where the Rockies are now 2-17. The Rockies offense just could not handle Joe Musgrove and the Padres bullpen, squeaking out a mere two hits for the game. Across the three game series the offense managed twelve hits for just one run. Yes, one run in three games. It’s the sixth time this season that the Rockies got shut out.

Welcome back Fernando Tatís Jr.

In his first game back from COVID-19 contact tracing guidelines, Fernando Tatís Jr. did not take long to get settled. He immediately made his presence felt by getting the first hit of the game in the second inning and then stealing second base on a 3-2 count that tested his flexibility.

Tatís Jr’s day only got better from there, as he followed that up with a loud two-out solo home run in the fourth that gave the Padres a 1-0 lead, and then a double in the sixth inning. He finished the game with a perfect 4-for-4 when he hit another double in the eighth inning, bringing his batting average up to .270.

Musgrove dominates the Rockies

Joe Musgrove continues his career year with the Padres with a phenomenal outing against the Rockies. He only allowed two hits in seven innings and finished the game with eleven strikeouts, eight of them coming within the first four innings of the game. This was the third time in Musgrove’s nine starts this season that he has thrown ten or more strikeouts.

Cronenworth’s inside the park home run

Fan surveys consistently show that the most exciting part of baseball are doubles and triples. Considering how rare they are we can assume that inside the park home runs weren’t an option, because Jake Cronenworth proved just how exciting they can be when he hit one off the right field wall and over the head of Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon seemed to have misjudged it and then had to run back near the middle of right field to pick up the ball. By the time he got to it, it was too late as Cronenworth was already rounding third and coming home to complete the inside the park home run. We might be seeing this one on highlight reels for awhile.

Chi Chi with another great game, hits a double

Lost in the pitching dominance by the Padres is Chi Chi González’s second straight solid outing. He only allowed four hits and two runs in six innings with six strikeouts and a walk. When you consider that two of his hits were the misplayed inside the park homer by Blackmon and a Tatís Jr. home run, there isn’t a whole lot more than you can ask from Chi Chi González.

Chi Chi even chipped in a double as the first of the Rockies lone two hits. He’s now batting 3-for-13 on the year.

Up Next

After losing their last five games, the Rockies will take a day off tomorrow and return to Colorado for a quick three game weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs have yet to announce a starter for that game but the Rockies will have Germán Márquez (2-4, 5.56 ERA) on the mound. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:40 P.M. MDT.