Padres 14, Rockies 3: Colorado defense falls apart

Going into tonight's game, the Padres had lost 7 of their last 10, culminating in the team being swept by the hottest squad in the American League. The bullpen was suffering, the defense was struggling, and the offense was spotty. How do you break out of a slump like that? Well, if you're the 2015 Padres, you take a day off, get some much needed rest, and then you beat the stuffing out of a division rival. For the second time this season, the team beat the Rockies 14-3.

The game started slow, with the Friars picking up one run in the first on a leadoff walk by Wil Myers, a single from Matt Kemp, and a productive out from Justin Upton. The Padres' lead stayed at 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when Colorado fell apart. Eddie Butler beaned Upton to start the inning, and then he threw the ball away trying to pick him off. With Upton on third, Derek Norris hit a single up the middle to put the Padres up 2-0. Yonder Alonso followed that up with a double to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Will Middlebrooks hit a grounder to Troy Tulowitzki, but Tulo bumped into Alonso and everyone was safe. If you want to know how weird it was, ask second base umpire Scott Barry.

With the bases loaded, DJ LeMahieu joined the error club, letting Alexi Amarista reach safely and putting the Pads up 3-0. A two out single from Yangervis Solarte made it 5-0 to end the inning.

The Rockies finally got on board in the fifth, when Drew Stubbs made his first hit of the year a home run to left field. With a 5-1 lead, the Padres weren't worried, especially when three consecutive singles in the bottom half of the inning made it 6-1. Nolan Arenado came back with another homer in the sixth. Good for you, Rockies. 6-2.

I'm not even going to bother recapping the eighth in detail, because the Padres sent 12 batters to the plate (Cory Spangenberg got to pinch hit twice) to score 8 runs. They had 6 hits and 2 walks in the inning, and the Rockies had their 4th error of the night. 14-2.

The Rockies got one more in the ninth on Nick Hundley's RBI double, but a 14-3 deficit was a little too much for them to handle. The Padres started out the final series of the homestand with a big win. Brandon Morrow will try to start a good streak tomorrow at 5:40 PM.