Rockies continue recent Padres dominance at Coors Field with 8-5 win of series – Greeley Tribune

For a Colorado club struggling to get back to .500, San Diego proved to be a much-needed elixir in the city.

The Rockies beat the Padres 8-5 in Thursday’s matinee at Coors Field to win the four-game series. The bullpen made a big entrance and the offense continued to answer the bell as everyone in the lineup reached base. Colorado hit a season high with nine walks.

“That was a huge (win),” said starting pitcher Kyle Freeland. “Hats to our offense and our bullpen who picked me up and did their job… (The Bullpen) worked and the offense never stopped. Even if I gave up the lead, they would come back to the dugout and get right back to it.”

With the win, Colorado improved to 13-3 at home against the Padres since the start of last season. The Rockies also picked up momentum this weekend in LoDo against the Pirates as they headed into the final series of the first half.

The fireworks started the second when Rockies All-Star CJ Cron led with a double. Padres southpaw Blake Snell then lost command and spent three walks in the inning. Colorado used Randal Grichuk’s soft-hit two-RBI double down the right field line and Connor Joe’s sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead.

But Freeland gave up two runs right in the third when early traffic resulted in two sacrifice flies to make it 3-2.

The teams went back and forth. Colorado (41-49, fourth in NL West) scored two more runs in the fourth when Snell threw himself wide with three more free passes, two of which went in one run. When paramedic Tayler Scott came in to stop the bleeding, Colorado was leading 5-2.

“The biggest factor on offense for what we did today was that we had a lot of really good (disciplined) bats,” manager Bud Black said. “We didn’t hunt, we went for a walk, we had a plan.”

However, San Diego stormed back in the fifth, destroying Freeland’s line. Trent Grisham led to right center with a solo home run. Three more hits overran two more runs to level the game 5-5.

Freeland was furious after the inning ended and used a bat to destroy a light on the dugout ceiling.

“I just didn’t like where that light was in the shelter,” Freeland said of the outbreak. “It didn’t look good.”

Thomas Jefferson’s product said he was “trying to be too subtle” with his approach as the Padres scored in the third and again in the fifth.

“They obviously have a solid line-up but that’s not my game when I’m trying to deal with pitches,” said Freeland. “My game is to be in the zone, attack, advance and get weak contact.”

Freeland’s teammates got him in the sixth inning by finding a rhythm against San Diego right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Connor Joe kickstarted Colorado with a once-in-a-lifetime walk. Jose Iglesias’ RBI double, Cron’s RBI single and Grichuk’s RBI double followed to make it 8-5.

The Colorado bullpen did the rest from there. Veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin scored two scoreless innings, then rookie right-hander Jake Bird pulled off the feat. Right-hander Carlos Estevez closed the door with his first save of the year in a 1-2-3 ninth.

Thursday’s win marked their third straight win over San Diego, who won Monday’s series opener and put the Rockies on a 10-game losing streak at LoDo.