CJ Cron’s big blasts lead Rockies to escape Padres at Coors Field – Greeley Tribune

Hey Larry, Vinny, Dante, Ellis and Big Cat, meet CJ Cron. In the past he would have been a good fit for the Blake Street Bombers.

Simply put, the guy is a beast in the stadium on the 20th and Blake.

Cron hit two homers and a single and drove five runs in front of 34,304 fans in the Rockies’ 10-4 win over the Padres in Coors on Friday night. Cron hits .355 at home and 12 of his 16 home runs were started in LoDo.

And look at this stat: He has the best home run average of any Rockies player who has played at least 100 games in Colorado. He hits a home run for every 12.72 at-bats. Andres Galarraga is second with 13.61.

The Rockies ended their seven-game losing streak at home. The Padres, who are battling the Dodgers for the National League West title, have lost eight straight games at Coors, their longest active streak of losing at a ballpark.

Cron’s first homer was a two-run shot to the right in the first inning by rookie left-hander MacKenzie Gore. It only covered 399 feet. His second thing, a two-barrel blast in the fifth, again by Gore, was worth a tape measure. It traveled 486 feet and almost reached the hall in left field.

On a hot, dry night, when the ball bounced — the teams combined for 22 hits and four homers — Colorado needed Crons firepower. It also took a brave seven-inning performance from Kyle Freeland.

The left-hander served four scoreless innings before San Diego teeed off for four runs in the fifth. The Padres’ big inning included an opening homer from Trent Grisham, a triple from Jose Azocar, and RBI doubles from Manny Machado and Luke Voit.

However, Freeland only allowed one baserunner in his last two innings. As of April 19, an 11-start span, he’s 3-3 (the Rockies are 7-4) and he has a 3.68 ERA.

Colorado’s offense, awaiting the return of hitting outfielder Kris Bryant next weekend in Minnesota, scored 14 hits. Charlie Blackmon, third in line, went 3-on-4 with two RBIs. His RBI triple in the first inning earned him 54 career points and put him past Dexter Fowler as the franchise’s all-time triple king.

Randal Grichuk also had a big night, hitting 2-for-4 and starting a three-run homer in the fourth to put the Rockies 6-0 ahead. The homer, his sixth, was Grichuk’s first in a month – a drought of 90 bats.

The two teams meet again in Coors on Saturday evening.