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Rockies take down Padres to win series

Jun 16, 2011 - 3:54 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Jhoulys Chacin silenced San Diego bats as Colorado topped the Padres, 6-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Chacin (8-4) pitched six strong innings, surrendering just one run on three hits and fanned seven.

Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base,Jose Morales was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Ryan Spilborghs added a two-RBI pinch-hit single for the Rockies, who have now won five of their last eight.

Rob Johnson homered and Chris Denorfia went 2-for-5 with two RBI for the Padres, who have lost five of their last six games.

Mat Latos (4-8) was charged with the loss after he gave up four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Latos started out strong for San Diego, giving up just one run through five frames, but imploded in the sixth.

Jonathan Herrera stroked a leadoff single, then Todd Helton followed with a flair to left which put runners on the corners. Seth Smith roped a single to right two batters later to score Herrera for a 2-1 Colorado lead.

Helton, who moved to second on Smith's hit, scored when Ty Wigginton greeted Chad Qualls with a single to center. Smith then scored on a seeing-eye single from Charlie Blackmon and it was 4-1. Later in the frame, with runners on second and third, pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs singled to center, scoring both Wigginton and Blackmon to cap the rally.

"No one was trying to do too much other than square the ball up and use the big part of the field," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said of the pivotal inning.

Denorfia knocked in a run each in the seventh and ninth. Following a lead-off double from Alberto Gonzalez in the seventh, Denorfia's single up the middle scored Gonzalez. In the ninth, pinch-hitter Logan Forsythe doubled down the left-field line, and then scored on a Denorfia base hit to left- center.

Rafael Betancourt recovered to retire Jason Bartlett on a fly out to end the game.

"We have to make the most of our at-bats," Padres manager Bud Black said, lamenting his team's 30 strikeouts in the series.

Johnson snapped a scoreless deadlock and put the Padres on the board with a solo blast into the left-field seats in the fifth inning.

Colorado manufactured a run of its own in the bottom half. Morales reached first on a fielder's choice, moved to second on a Chacin base hit up the middle and scored after Carlos Gonzalez roped a base hit to center.

Game Notes

Colorado improved to 4-3 on its 10-game homestand...The five runs the Rockies scored in the sixth marks the fourth game of their homestand they have scored as many as five runs in a single inning...The four runs Latos surrendered marked the first time in 12 games Padres starters have given up more than three runs...San Diego fell to 16-14 on the road this season.