SAN DIEGO — “Small ball” is not the Rockies’ forte, but they used it well Wednesday in their 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, and manager Walt Weiss hopes he can count on it when needed in the future.
The Rockies scored their two runs on balls that never left the infield. Cristhian Adames hit an RBI groundout in the fifth, and DJ LeMahieu put down a perfect safety squeeze in the ninth.
“Today, I wanted to create a lot of action, so we played hit-and-run a bunch to try to manufacture runs,” Weiss said. “It was nice to see. We can still get better, but we did a nice job of it today.”
The Rockies mashed the ball during a three-game sweep at Arizona, but they managed just six runs over three games at San Diego, a notoriously tough hitters’ ballpark.
“Sometimes when your offense gets stalled a bit, those are the types of things you have to be able to do,” Weiss said. “You have to be multidimensional as an offense. I’ve been talking about that all spring. I felt like we were better built to do some things like we did today.”
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Added LeMahieu: “We have to be able to win games like this. When you get an outing like (starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood) had today, and we weren’t swinging it great, it’s important to see that we can still win a game.”
Butler assessment. Right-hander Eddie Butler showed good movement on his two-seam fastball and crossed up the Padres with an effective slider Tuesday night in his first Rockies start of the season,
It wasn’t a perfect outing by any means, and the Rockies lost 6-3. Matt Kemp hammered a Butler changeup over the center-field wall in the fourth, and the next batter, Brett Wallace, also homered. Still, Weiss thought Butler took a step forward.
“I was encouraged by Eddie’s outing last night, although he ran into some trouble in the middle innings,” Weiss said. “I thought the stuff was as good as I’ve seen from him at the major-league level.
“The slider has gotten better for him. It’s the changeup that’s a little firm, not a lot of (velocity) separation there. But as long as the command is good and he’s staying behind the sinker and he’s got some depth to the sinker, he’ll be very effective.”
Footnotes. Rockies first baseman Ben Paulsen was struck on the right forearm by a stray foul ball while sitting in the dugout. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but Paulsen sported a big bruise after the game. … During the four-game series at San Francisco that begins Thursday night, the Rockies will face the Giants’ best: Madison Bumgarner (Friday), Johnny Cueto (Saturday) and Jeff Samardzija (Sunday). “We are going into the lion’s den,” Weiss said. “We have to go through the teeth of their rotation, so it will be a good test for us.” Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Looking Ahead
Rockies LHP Chris Rusin (1-0, 1.69 ERA) at Giants RHP Matt Cain (0-3, 7.00), 8:15 p.m. Friday, ROOT; 850 AM
Colorado faces a tough task in San Francisco against a strong Giants rotation, but it starts off the series against their weak link. Cain gave up seven hits, six earned runs and a walk over six innings in his last start against the Mets. The veteran right-hander has surrendered 10 earned runs over his last 11 innings. Rusin is pitching well for Colorado, and that’s likely to continue at AT&T Park. He enters Thursday’s game riding a 14 -inning scoreless streak, currently the second-longest streak in the majors. He faced the Giants in a relief role April 13 at Coors Field, pitching 2 scoreless innings and getting the victory. In four previous starts vs. San Francisco, he’s 1-1 with a 2.54 ERA.
Friday: Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (3-1, 3.89 ERA) at Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner (3-2, 3.03), 8:15 p.m., ROOT
Saturday: Rockies RHP Jon Gray (0-1, 7.98) at Giants RHP Johnny Cueto (4-1, 3.61), 2:05 p.m., ROOT
Sunday: Rockies RHP Eddie Butler (0-1, 6.75) at Giants RHP Jeff Samardzija (4-1, 3.32), 2:05 p.m., ROOT
