Padres Beat Rockies 4-2
- Updated: July 17, 2015
(Picture credit, http://abc30.com)
On the day the Padres unveiled the 2016 All Star Game logo featuring, they were also looking to unveil a W to start off the 2nd half of the season. Matt Kemp also wanted to unveil his 2nd half form, which has been much better than his 1st half form over recent seasons.
Right on cue he opened the scoring by smashing a home run to left field and Jedd Gyorko continued his dominance of Rockies starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa by teeing off on a 2 run bomb to center field.
San Diego led 3-0 after the first inning and would lead all game on the way to a 4-2 victory. With Matt Kemp and Justin Upton both hitting monster home runs and Craig Kimbrel pitching a lights out 9th, this is a type of night AJ Preller envisioned when he brought those players to San Diego during the offseason.
Even though the Padres never trailed, the game was in question until the end with the Rockies getting base runners with regularity.
Colorado’s DJ LeMahieu doubled to lead off the 2nd, and advanced to 3rd on a fly out. Drew Stubbs followed by drawing a walk to put Rockies on the corners with only 1 out. It felt like a moment Padres fans have seen a lot this season. Right when the team gets off to a hot start, the pitching and defense lets the opposition back in it. Except this time Shields was able to pick off Stubbs at first, taking the pitcher De La Rosa out of a sacrifice bunt situation, and proceeded to quickly strike out the Rockies 9 hole hitter to escape the scoring threat.
Colorado continued to get base runners against Shields, but couldn’t push a run home until Charlie Blackmon homered to right field leading of the 5th inning. On a night that he didn’t have his best stuff, Shields continued to battle and took advantage of another base running blunder by the Rockies to escape a jam later in the 5th. With men on 1st and 3rd again, Shields attempted to pick off the runner at 3rd, and Ben Paulsen took off from first base for some reason and was caught in a run down. Adding to the frustration Rockies fans must have felt is the fact that one of the best contact hitters in the league, All Star DJ LeMahieu, was the guy at the plate.
Marcos Mateo relieved James Shields in the 6th inning and produced the first inning without a base runner for the Padres. Shields ended the game with 5 IP 1 ER 7 H 4BB and 6 K’s.
The Rockies rallied in the 7th against Padres reliever Brandon Mauer and scored to get within 1 run when Derek Norris made a throwing error trying to catch Charlie Blackmon stealing 2nd base. On the verge of letting the game slip away, Mauer was able to force Arenado into hitting a ground ball that was turned for a crucial inning ending double play.
Joaquin Benoit pitched a clean 8th and Justin Upton smashed a home run clean out of the park and into the left field upper deck to give the Padres a 4-2 lead heading into Kimbrel time. Kimbrel shut the door and the Padres won their 3rd straight.
Playing the next 9 games at home, the Padres will hope this is the start of a hot streak that could change the course of a so far disappointing season.
Game 2 of the series is tomorrow at 5:40 with Tyson Ross and Chad Bettis being the probable starters.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things San Diego Padres and the rest of the SoCal sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
Related Posts
About Guest Writer
