Rockies 9, Padres 4: Big swings lead to big things

This game took place in pitcher-friendly Petco Park, but you wouldn’t know it by the Rockies’ bats. They launched four homers en route to an easy victory, as they beat the Padres 9-2 on Friday.

Rockies feel at home(r) on the road

If there’s one thing the 2021 Rockies have struggled with, it’s scoring runs away from Coors. Not so on Friday, as they exploded early and often by launching four home runs in the first five innings against San Diego. The game started strangely - with two outs, C.J. Cron walked and then Charlie Blackmon doubled to score the Rockies’ first run of the game... or did he? Following a replay review, the ball was determined to be dead and thusly ruled a ground-rule double, stranding Cron at third and Blackmon at second, costing the Rockies their run. It may have been a frustrating start to the ballgame, but after a walk to Elías Díaz, Ryan McMahon (who reached base five times in the game) turned fans’ frowns upside-down with his first career grand slam to put the Rox up 4-0.

It didn’t stop there. In the fourth, San Diego native Connor Joe launched a two-run shot, his second of the season, to make it 6-0.

Brendan Rodgers and Elías Díaz would add home runs of their own (a two-run and solo shot, respectively) to make it 9-0. Following their shutout last night, the Rockies offense fought back with a vengeance on Friday.

Gray stays and plays today

Jon Gray was not moved at the trade deadline, and at the very least that paid off in Friday’s win. The Gray Wolf tossed 6 ¹⁄3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. The right-hander was composed from the start, at one point retiring nine straight Padres. He did falter towards the end of his start (his only earned runs coming from a two-run home run from Manny Machado in the sixth, and two of his three walks coming in the seventh), but Gray forced weak contact throughout (10 groundouts) and was rarely ever in danger. Following a tumultuous trade deadline, seeing Gray do his thing was a nice breather for Rockies fans.

Manly Machado

There’s a lot that can be said about Manny Machado, and one is that the guy can hit. The entirety of the Padres offense was off of his bat, as he shmacked two two-run home runs against Gray and reliever Tyler Kinley. San Diego’s RBI leader attempted to be a one-man wrecking crew, but was unable to do it alone.

Tatis, Jr. injured

No jokes here. A scary silence befell Petco Park after a weird play in the first inning. Fernando Tatis, Jr. recorded a base hit with one out, Manny Machado then slapped a liner to McMahon at third, who made a nice attempt but was unable to snag the ball. Seeing this, Tatis made for third, but was tagged out by McMahon and fell awkwardly and painfully to his side. Holding the same left shoulder he injured earlier in the season and in clear pain, it was some time before he was finally helped off the field and replaced by Ha-Seong Kim at short for the remainder of the contest.

A young superstar in today’s game, one can only hope that the injury is not severe and that Tatis, Jr. can come back healthy soon.

I’d rather not show the video of his injury, so here he is dancing instead.

Up Next

Game three of the four-game skirmish with the Padres is on Saturday, as fan-favorite Germán Márquez duels Yu Darvish. Expect Trevor Story to be back in the lineup in that game. Newly-acquired Daniel Hudson may make his San Diego debut as well.

First pitch is at 6:40pm MDT.

See you then!