Monday night, San Diego slugger Wil Myers made a memory that will last a lifetime.
For the Rockies, the chilly evening at represented nothing more than a lost opportunity. They made it interesting with a two-run homer by in the ninth, but fell 5-3.
Myers, one of baseball’s premier Rockies killers, hit for the cycle at one of his favorite ballparks. He concluded the rare feat with a triple to left center in the eighth inning off Rockies reliever .
“As soon as I hit it, I knew a triple was a possibility,” a joyful Myers said. “I was screaming ‘three’ to myself, in my head. I was going three the whole way. In that situation, when we really needed a run, I felt like it was a good opportunity to take a chance.”
Myers became the second Padres player to accomplish the feat. The other was Matt Kemp, who did it Aug. 14, 2015, against the Rockies at Coors Field.
“He’s a good player. He got ($83 million) for a reason,” said Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood.
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First-year Rockies manager Bud Black, who managed Myers in San Diego, added: “He’s starting to come into his own … His strength is his ability to hit to all fields, which you saw tonight.”
The Rockies were coming off a celebratory opening weekend in which their purple-clad faithful reveled in a series victory over the . But Monday night, with a first-pitch temperature of 58 degrees and a golf-clap crowd of 20,564, Colorado produced next to nothing against a Padres team expected to be sweeping up the National League West cellar by September.
, trying to slay his LoDo demons from last season, pitched five strong innings before giving up two homers in the sixth. He got the hook having given up four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 5 ⅓ innings. He’s 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA to open the season.
“That’s what (stinks) about baseball,” Chatwood said, “You can be throwing a lot of good pitches and then you give up two homers right there and you kind of lose the game for us right there.”
The Rockies’ offense, meanwhile, failed to take advantage of a spot start by Jarred Cosart.
Cosart was in the Padres’ bullpen until Trevor Cahill went on the disabled list with a lower-back strain. Unfazed, Cosart baffled the Rockies for four scoreless innings, allowing five hits. The Rockies never could figure him out, and grounding into double plays became an epidemic. Cosart got to do it in the first, Reynolds in the second and in the fourth.
“He had us off-balance, ” Black said. “He threw enough curveballs and had enough velocity on his fastball to keep us honest. We just couldn’t really solve any of his stuff, even though we had him in deep counts.”
LeMahieu finally got the Rockies on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the sixth, his first of the season. It was a good sign for the defending National League batting champion, who had slumped out of the gate, but has heated up lately. Counting Monday’s homer, LeMahieu had hit for the cycle in his last five at-bats, including Sunday’s game.
San Diego punched out a run off Chatwood in the third on a leadoff walk by Manuel Margot and an RBI double by Myers. The Padres’ first baseman made it 2-0 in the sixth with a leadoff homer off Chatwood. Hunter Renfroe’s two-run homer chased Chatwood and put the Padres in front 4-0.
Myers, who collected his single in the first inning, is hitting .362 with six homers in 17 career games at Coors Field. His nine homers vs. the Rockies since 2015 are the most by any player.
