Padres 6, Rockies 3: Friedrich tosses a gem

Good lord, Christian Friedrich. The Padres starter tossed an incredible game, shutting down the Rockies for seven innings and holding them to an incredibly stingy two hits and one walk. He also struck out an impressive ten batters. And you can watch them all in just a few seconds here.

That performance would have been for naught if he hadn’t gotten some serious run support, largely from the top of the order. Jon Jay, Wil Myers, and Yangervis Solarte combined for three runs, six hits, and all six of the team’s RBI.

The Friars got on the board in the first, as Jay, Myers, and Solarte hit back-to-back-to-back singles. But the real damage came one inning later. With one out, Derek Norris drew a walk, and then Luis Sardiñas followed that with a single to right. Friedrich tried to advance both runners with a bunt, but Norris was caught at third. Then Travis Jankowski reached on catcher interference, loading the bases for Jay. Another single brought Sardiñas home, and then Myers did some serious damage with a ground rule double to left. Solarte followed with a double of his own to put the good guys up 6-0.

The Rockies only scored in a sloppy eighth inning. Mark Reynolds got to first to start the inning when Sardiñas bungled a ground ball. Cristhian Adames grounded into a force and ended up replacing Reynolds on first. A wild pitch put him in scoring position, and a ground out put him on third with two outs. Jose Dominguez issued a walk to Charlie Blackmon, and DJ LeMahieu hit a single to end the shutout. Brad Hand took over at that point and promptly threw a wild pitch, allowing both runners to advance. Carlos Gonzalez took advantage of the mistakes with a single up the middle to narrow the gap to three runs. Not that it mattered. Hand wrapped up the inning without more damage, and them Brandon Maurer picked up his ninth save.

Edwin Jackson will try to lead the team to a series win tomorrow afternoon. First pitch at 1:40 PM.