San Diego – It was “Military Night” at Petco Park, and the Padres wore their camouflage uniforms in a salute to area troops.
But the biggest salute of all came from Adrian Gonzalez, who smashed a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth to score Jose Cruz Jr., lifting the Padres to a 3-2 victory over the Rockies on Saturday night.
The game-winner came off of reliever Manny Corpas. He’d been untouchable so far this season, but Gonzalez nearly took him out of the park.
After earlier appearances this season, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle referred to Corpas’ stuff as “nasty” and “filthy.”
And in the eighth inning, Corpas’ stuff was. Intense, yet calm, he set the Padres down in order, striking out Geoff Blum and Rob Bowen.
But he cracked in the ninth, and the Padres mobbed Gonzalez just before the crowd was treated to fireworks. Hurdle said he stayed with Corpas in the ninth because Corpas had only thrown 11 pitches in the eighth.
The Rockies had their chances to win their fourth straight game of the young season.
In the ninth, facing venerable Padres closer Trevor Hoffman, the heart of the Rockies’ order failed to come through. Garrett Atkins, hitting just .238 in the early going, struck out. Todd Helton managed a single up the middle, but Matt Holliday grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Rookie catcher Chris Iannetta’s bid to be a hero failed in the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Iannetta hit a pop foul that was gobbled up by Padres right fielder Brian Giles. Iannetta is now hitting just .133.
The night’s unsung hero was Rockies starter Josh Fogg, though his performance was wasted.
Fogg laughed long and hard the other day when he was asked if he was a “Greg Maddux-type” pitcher.
“I don’t think there’s any way you compare me to him,” said Fogg, who, like Maddux, relies on location and guile rather than power. “I might be a control pitcher, but I don’t move the ball like he does.”
Of course not, but Fogg showed plenty of guile and movement Saturday. When he left the mound with one out in the seventh, the Rockies clung to a 2-1 lead. Fogg allowed two runs on just six hits, walking one and striking out three.
The Padres tied the game 2-2 in the seventh when Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Marcus Giles. Giles reached on a walk by Fogg and advanced to third when Brian Giles hit a single to right off Rockies reliever Jeremy Affeldt. Fogg’s walk was the first issued by a Rockies pitcher in almost three complete games.
The Rockies took a 2-0 lead off starter David Wells in the third when Jamey Carroll, picking up where he left off last season, drilled a two-out single to center, scoring Troy Tulowitzki and Iannetta. Wells, the Padres’ 43-year-old lefty, stayed around for 6 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits.
San Diego cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth when Russell Branyan hit an opposite-field homer off Fogg, steering the ball just inside the left-field foul pole.
Colorado’s Aaron Cook faces San Diego’s Jake Peavy tonight.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
