San Diego – For the Rockies to beat the San Diego Padres on an overcast Sunday afternoon at Petco Park, they needed perfection from Aaron Cook.
Colorado almost got it.
In the end, all the Rockies got was their second heartbreaking loss in a row.
The Padres beat the Rockies 2-1 in 10 innings when Khalil Greene blasted a triple to the gap in right-center field, then scored on Kevin Kouzmanoff’s single to right. Both hits came off Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
Saturday night, Adrian Gonzalez’s one-out double in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Padres to a 3-2 victory.
Inning after inning, groundball after groundball, Cook stayed the course Sunday.
Until the eighth inning. That’s when, seemingly out of nowhere, Jose Cruz Jr. sliced a two-out solo homer down the right-field line to tie the game 1-1. Cruz’s homer landed just above the yellow line on the right-field wall that signifies a home run.
In nine innings, Cook allowed one run on five hits. He struck out four and walked none. His sinker in top form, he recorded 16 groundball outs.
The Rockies’ lone run came in the fourth when Garrett Atkins singled, and then scored on Brad Hawpe’s opposite-field single to left. Colorado managed just five hits.
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
