SAN DIEGO — The Rockies leveraged the longball to victory once again Monday night as a pair of milestone homers by recent call-ups, combined with a timely three-run jack by a veteran, paced Colorado to a 6-4 win over the Padres.
The game marked Colorado’s seventh time hitting at least three home runs this year, with six of those performances coming on the road, as the Rockies put Sunday’s season-high 15 strikeout showing in the rear view.
After the teams traded one run each in the first frame, a throwing error by shortstop Trevor Story with two outs in the fourth gave the Padres an unearned run and 2-1 advantage.
But Daniel Castro, starting at second base in place of the injured DJ LeMahieu, proceeded to even the game in the fifth when he golfed a sinker to left for his first home run with the Rockies and third of his young career.
Then, right fielder Noel Cuevas stepped to the dish three batters later and hit his own solo homer to left, the first of his career, to give Colorado a 3-2 lead.
“When you get contributions from guys up from Triple-A, it really makes the club have a good vibe to it,” manager Bud Black said. “The contributions from (Castro and Cuevas) were great… It gave us a bit of momentum when those two guys went deep.”
San Diego came right back with an Eric Hosmer RBI double the next inning to even the game 3-3, but left fielder Gerardo Parra’s three-run dinger in the sixth tilted the scales back in favor of the Rockies for good.
Right-handed starter Tyler Anderson turned in a decent enough outing, yielding three earned runs on seven hits through 5 ⅔ innings while battling an array of traffic.
“I probably gave them too many good pitches to hit, I would say, but for the most part it was alright,” assessed Anderson. “I gave us a chance to win, and I battled and stayed in there.”
From there, Bryan Shaw, Adam Ottavino and Wade Davis did the rest, with Ottavino striking out the side for the fifth time this season and Davis recording his major league-leading 15th save.
Looking ahead
Rockies RHP German Marquez (2-4, 5.35 ERA) at Padres RHP Jordan Lyles (0-1, 3.28), 1:40 p.m., ATTRM
Marquez was roughed up in his last outing for five runs on 12 hits in a loss to Milwaukee last week, and the righty will need steadier fastball command from the get-go in order to bounce back Tuesday. The previous time Marquez faced the Padres this year was April 11 in Denver, when he looked strong through three scoreless innings before being ejected for throwing a towel during the teams’ brawl. Colorado faces a familiar face on the hill in Jordan Lyles, whose struggles during his time with the Rockies from 2014-17 — including a disastrous 6.94 ERA out of the bullpen last year — are well documented. The Rockies have traditionally teed off on Lyles, too, hitting a collective .300 in 90 at-bats. Carlos Gonzalez has been particularly effective against the righty, hitting .538 (7-for-13) with a pair of homers. — Kyle Newman, The Denver Post
Wednesday:ڴ
Thursday: Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (4-1, 3.12) at Giants RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 6.62), 8:15 p.m. ATTRM
Friday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (3-4, 3.42) at Giants LHP Derek Holland (1-4, 4.95), 8:15 p.m., ATTRM
Saturday: Rockies RHP Jon Gray (4-5, 4.85) at Giants RHP Chris Stratton (3-3, 4.60), 2:05 p.m. ATTRM
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