Padres 14, Rockies 1: LOLorado

Tonight’s game was a welcome change of pace after the last two days. The Padres slammed the Rockies with a whopping 14 runs while Clayton Richard tossed 7 shutdown innings. In that time, the two-time Friar allowed only three runners to reach second base, striking out eight while holding the opposition to six runs and three walks. Offensively, Ryan Schimpf led the team by picking up two runs and four RBI, including his 18th homer and 15th double. He was joined in the home run club by Derek Norris, who notched his 13th in the eighth inning.

Two innings in, it looked like a pitching duel was about to break out as Colorado starter Jeff Hoffman cruised through the first two innings. He gave up a leadoff walk to Luis Sardiñas to start the third, but even that seemed like it would cause no damage, as he retired the next two batters. But then Cristhian Adames booted a grounder from Jon Jay, allowing the first of seven unearned runs to cross the plate. The last of those runs was driven in by the man who started the inning as Sardiñas knocked a single into right field. That was when Hoffman finally got pulled. German Marquez made his major league debut by striking out Clayton Richard to end the bloodshed.

Marquez’s night got worse from there as the Padres piled on with some earned runs in the fifth. The good guys drew three straight walks to start the inning, and then Alex Dickerson scored on a ground out from Richard. Schimpf and Norris came home immediately after when Travis Jankowski lined a single up the middle.

The Rockies continued to flail into the sixth inning. Matt Carasiti struck out the first batter he saw, but then gave up a double, a single, and another double, allowing two more Padres to cross the plate. Walt Weiss yanked him after he beaned Norris and walked Sardiñas to load the bases. Old friend Chad Qualls took the mound to hold San Diego to a measly 12-run lead.

A dozen wasn’t enough, though. Dickerson reached to start the eighth on an error by Mark Reynolds. One out later, Norris came to the plate and demolished a baseball. That’s when somebody had to jinx the shutout.

Brandon Morrow had one out when Adames defied the 8:00 rule at Petco Park and hammered a solo shot into right field. The game thankfully didn’t turn into a repeat of one of the season’s worst nights, and the Padres started the four-game series with a win.

Luis Perdomo will look to raise his record to .500 as he takes the mound in game two tomorrow night. First pitch at 7:40 PM.