In a few of Ian Kennedy's recent starts he has flirted with disaster and in a couple he has been quite good. Today it was closer to the former, but his flirtatious ways were too inviting and the Rockies took advantage. His arsenal seemed to alternate between dynamite and pop gun. He managed to whiff 9 Colorado hitter, but also allowed them to scatter 7 hits, many of which were hit hard, and score 6 runs. On paper, Rockies starter Kyle Kendrick and his ERA north of 6 should have been up to the task of letting the Padres keep pace, but instead he was pretty stingy on the mound and contributed a home run on offense.
The Padres offense did get its scoring started early when Matt Kemp laced a 2 run shot to the base of the Western Metal Building and over the shortest in the park. That seemed like a promising start to the day for hot hitting right fielder, but the rest of the game proved troublesome for him. He hit into 2 double plays in big situations, struck out in his final at bat and made a couple of defensive miscues. The worst defensive struggle was a catchable ball that came down just short of the fence, but bounced off his glove and allowed two runners to score. That effectively cancelled out his early positive contribution.
Other Padres did have good days on offense, the team actually outhit the Rockies, but it wasn't enough to overcome the runs the Colorado club put on the board. One of the offensive standouts was Derek Norris who tallied 3 hits, but was never knocked or had anyone to bring home. Justin Upton did get driven in twice and was on base 3 times. Jedd Gyorko was one of those who drove him in when in the 5th inning he snuck a double down the 3rd base line in the fourth inning. That reduced a four run, 6-2, deficit down to 3. Their final run came from an errant throw in the 6th inning. Cory Spangenberg bunted and the Rockies catcher threw it away. That allowed Justin Upton to score his second run.
With the score 6-4, the game wasn't out of hand, but with the Padres' bullpen involved one wouldn't have been surprised if they altered that. However, Nick Vincent, Mark Rzepzcynski and Bud Norris were solid and held the Rockies offense at bay. That was, sadly, matched by the Rockies 'pen men (all 6 of them) who kept the Friars scoreless in the later innings. The Padres did have a couple threats. Wil Myers got a hold of one with the base loaded, but it was always tailing foul and bounced off the wrong side of the Western Metal Building. Alexi Amarista, pinch hitting for Ian Kennedy, sent one to right field that almost reached the Jack Deck, but ended up caught just short of getting there. Close calls both, but in the end they were just exciting moments and not the game changers they could have been. And so we end up with another Padres loss, this one at the hand of the Rockies on Labor Day.