Rockies 6, Padres 1: Offense forgets they’re in Denver

It’s official: The Padres are back in Tank Mode, though at this point it’s a little late to truly solidify their draft position. But Clayton Richard tried, giving up four runs with two outs in the second inning to hand the Rockies a commanding lead. The offense kept those treads rolling by going a miserable 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The only Friar who missed the tanking memo was Wil Myers, who added to his resurgent September with his 28th bomb of the year.

Clayton’s one awful inning started well as he retired Trevor Story and Ian Desmond on four pitches. But then Carlos Gonzalez reached first on a comebacker that Richard deflected to start a brutal Colorado rally. Mark Reynolds singled to put runners at the corner and bring up Jonathan Lucroy. With pitcher Tyler Chatwood waiting on deck, Richard intentionally walked Lucroy to load the bases. It was a smart move, but it didn’t work. Chatwood hit a two-run double, and D.J. LeMahieu followed that up with a triple to put the Rockies up 4-0.

Four innings later, the Padres avoided a shutout when Myers went yard. That was pretty cool.

The Rockies got two more when Jose Valdez took over in the eighth, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Nolan Arenado hit a leadoff home run to take the Colorado back to four, and Story knocked Valdez out of the game without recording an out when he hit a triple. Desmond hit a sacrifice fly off Kyle McGrath to score Story.

The Friars will play afternoon ball Saturday as Jhoulys Chacin takes on Jon Gray at 12:10 PM.