DENVER—Juan Nicasio had a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings and Chris Iannetta hit a three-run homer, helping the Colorado Rockies end a three-game skid with a 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Before the game, manager Jim Tracy held a closed-door meeting to shake his team out of their funk. The Rockies responded to the pep talk, moving to 3-3 on their season-long 10-game homestand.
Nicasio (2-1) had a rocky start, giving up a leadoff homer to Chris Denorfia, but soon settled into a groove. He gave up six hits and walked just one in his fourth start since being called up from Double-A Tulsa.
The hard-throwing righty struck out the side in the first and had at least one in every inning before being pulled with his pitch count at 108. He had nine career strikeouts entering the game.
Wade LeBlanc (0-2) was recalled from Triple-A Tucson before the game to help out a banged-up rotation. He allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings.
Iannetta broke open a 3-2 game in the sixth by hitting a hanging slider from reliever Pat Neshek into the seats in left. It was his ninth homer of the season.
Reliever Matt Lindstrom took over for Nicasio in the seventh and worked himself into a one-out jam by loading the bases.
After Lindstrom got Ryan Ludwick to pop out, lefty Rex Brothers was brought in to face left-handed hitting rookie phenom Anthony Rizzo, who struck out on a breaking ball.
Huston Street struck out Rizzo to end the game in the ninth in a nonsave situation.
Tracy wouldn’t divulge the precise nature of his chat with his team, only saying, “We had a get-together today.” The dialogue lasted around 30 minutes.
The Rockies have traditionally been a slow-starting squad. But after a fast start, spending 39 days in first place, the Rockies have hit a slump and trailed San Francisco by six games heading into the game.
Tracy doesn’t want to see his team fall too far behind, where they have to make a frenzied late-season run to climb back into the postseason picture.
“What’s very, very important for us to understand is where we’re at is not where we want to be,” Tracy said. “But we’re not at death’s door by any stretch of the imagination.”
LeBlanc was cruising along until the fourth when he walked Chris Nelson to start the inning and then allowed four straight hits, including RBI singles by Todd Helton, Ty Wigginton and Charlie Blackmon.
The lefty limited the damage from there, fanning Nicasio with two on to keep it a 3-2 game.
Cameron Maybin hit a one-out double in the fourth and scored on Alberto Gonzalez’s double to the gap in right-center.
It was an inauspicious start for Nicasio as Denorfia led off the game by drilling a slider over the fence in right-center. Jason Bartlett was then plunked in the ribs by a fastball, staying on the ground for several minutes before jogging to first.
Bartlett stole second and third, but was stranded there as Nicasio wound up striking out the side.
Ryan Ludwick had quite a first inning in left field, recording all three outs with diving catches. As he made his way into the dugout after a sliding grab on Helton’s tailing liner, he tapped gloves with teammates.
Ludwick’s performance at the plate wasn’t nearly as spectacular. He struck out three times and popped out with the bases loaded.
However, Ludwick did have an RBI single in the ninth as he brought in Chase Headley, who finished with four singles.
LeBlanc was trying to duplicate the performance Anthony Bass turned in Monday, when he bottled up the Rockies in a 3-1 win.
Just called up from Double-A San Antonio, Bass pitched five solid innings for his first major league victory. But the 23-year-old was optioned back to San Antonio immediately after the game to make room for LeBlanc.
San Diego’s rotation is dinged up with Dustin Moseley still bothered by a slightly dislocated left shoulder and Aaron Harang going on the disabled list Monday due to a bruised right foot.
Moseley, who threw a bullpen session Monday, is expected to start Sunday in Minnesota.
NOTES: Helton scored his 1,300th run Tuesday. … Padres INF Orlando Hudson (groin) will join Single-A Lake Elsinore beginning Wednesday.
