Padres 8, Rockies 5: Friars launch bombs

Please sit down for a minute, because there’s some news that might be a bit of a shock to you. The Padres have won five games in a row. That’s their longest winning streak since August of 2015, and a win tomorrow night would be the longest since the team won seven in June of 2013. Tonight’s victory was a little different than the four that preceded it, as the Rockies did some serious damage against the San Diego pitching staff, getting four runs off Clayton Richard and a fifth off Brad Hand. Thankfully, the bats came through, with Austin Hedges, Yangervis Solarte, and Wil Myers all going deep and Allen Cordoba falling a home run short of the cycle.

Things looked grim when Colorado put up a crooked number in the third. With two outs and Charlie Blackmon on first, DJ LeMahieu hit a double into left, and Nolan Arenado followed with a single to put the Rockies up 2-0. And then Ryan Schimpf mishandled a Mark Reynolds ball to put Arenado in scoring position for Ian Desmond, who added one more run with his RBI single.

Chase d’Arnaud led off the bottom half of the third with a single and then swiped second. That set up Allen Cordoba for a RBI single. The Rockies got that run right back in the fourth, with Trevor Story and Tony Wolters opening the inning with a pair of singles. Story came home on a sacrifice bunt and the Padres were down by three again.

Then it was the Friars’ turn to put up a crooked number. Schimpf led off the inning by drawing a walk, then took second on a wild pitch. Hunter Renfroe got him to third with a ground out, and Franchy Cordero brought him home on a single. Then Hedges did this to tie the game.

Not to be outdone, Solarte followed Cordoba’s leadoff double in the fifth with a big swing.

A trio of singles and a sac fly gave the Padres one more in the sixth, and then Myers joined the home run club in the seventh.

Tune in tomorrow at 1:10 PM to see if Jhoulys Chacin can extend the winning streak to six!