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Homers power Padres over Rockies

May 12, 2008 - 12:24 AM By Tim Powers PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Chris Young threw six-plus solid innings and the San Diego Padres used two home runs to take down the Colorado Rockies, 6-1, and earn the series victory in the finale of a three-game set on Sunday.

Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene powered the San Diego offense with home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to help the Padres snap a stretch of eight consecutive series losses.

Young (3-3) blanked Colorado for six frames before loading the bases with no outs in the seventh. Cla Meredith came on to get a double-play ground ball and a strikeout that allowed a run to score but preserved a 4-1 advantage.

"That was really big and we know that's what (Meredith) can do," Young said. "He throws that sinker and gets ground balls. He's a good pitcher."

Heath Bell pitched a perfect eighth before Bryan Corey, acquired earlier in the day in a trade with Boston, worked around a walk to contribute a scoreless ninth.

"That was more like (how) we expect to play baseball," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Good pitching, good bullpen work, solid defense, a couple homers. It was good to see."

A 6-10 righthander, Young yielded one run on five hits over six-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked two batters.

"I had a lively fastball today, and I was able to establish it both up and down in the zone," Young said. "I mixed in some off-speed pitches here and there, but the fastball was good for me today. The offense is the story today and the way we found a way to score some runs."

Young's counterpart, Colorado starter Greg Reynolds (0-1), made his major league debut and allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings. The 21-year-old righthander, the Rockies' first-round selection in 2006, struck out one and walked two.

"The first few innings, I felt like I stayed on top of the ball well," Reynolds said. "I kept the ball down in the zone for the most part and got a lot of ground balls as a result. In the last couple of innings, I got a little lackadaisical mentally and left some balls up and got hurt."

"I thought it was a pretty good first effort," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "(Reynolds) was very efficient through the next four innings after the first. His pitches were just up, but he still got outs. I thought he handled it very professionally."

San Diego tacked on an insurance run against Justin Speier in the seventh on a single by Kevin Kouzmanoff that made it 5-1.

Padres catcher Luke Carlin got his first major league hit in the eighth, a double off Manny Corpas. Carlin later scored on a single by Tadahito Iguchi to make it a 6-1 lead.

"It's just nice to win a series," said Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who doubled in a run in the sixth. "We haven't won one in a long time and it's something we can feel good about. It was good to get some hits with runners in scoring position. Greenie came up with the big home run."

With the loss, the Rockies have not won a series since taking two of three in Houston from April 18-20.