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Maddux flashes all-around game as Padres pound Rockies

Aug 10, 2008 - 5:52 AM By Paul Willis PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Greg Maddux notched his 353rd career win while Colorado natives Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley supplied a large portion of the offense against the team they grew up watching.

Maddux won his third consecutive start as the San Diego Padres upended the Colorado Rockies, 8-3, at Coors Field on Saturday.

The 42-year-old Maddux (6-8) was lifted after surrendering successive singles to begin the seventh, having allowed two runs and six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

The righthander's only big mistake came in the third inning, when Chris Iannetta launched a solo home run for the Rockies' only extra-base hit against the veteran.

"I was happy with the way the guys played," Maddux said. "The defense got a few double plays. It was stellar. You're always going to give up runs here, but I think the key is making it through six innings in this park."

The Padres used six relievers to finish off the victory. The final one, closer Trevor Hoffman, needed five pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam with none out in the ninth and record his 25th save of the season and 549th of his career.

"Looking at the scoreboard, I was thinking, We have a little cushion, (but) let's get an out," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Once we got that first out, a big punchout (of Troy Tulowitzki), I think the momentum, psychologically, came back to our side."

Maddux, who has doubled his wins total for the season in his last three outings, also contributed a generously scored RBI bunt single in the sixth to cap the Padres' decisive five-run rally.

"Greg was deserving of a lot of wins in that stretch, so it's good to see him get three in a row," Black said.

Kouzmanoff, who grew up in nearby Evergreen, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Headley, who attended high school in Colorado Springs, was 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI. Each contributed a run-scoring single in the five-run frame against All-Star Aaron Cook (14-8).

"It's not any more satisfying doing it here, because you always want to succeed, always want to win," said Headley, who said about 20 people came to see him play. "It's always good to see the family, but just because people are here to see you, you don't press or anything like that."

Cook failed in his second bid to post his 15th win but still is positioned to break the franchise mark of 17 victories.

He allowed six runs and 10 hits. One of the hits came when Maddux's bunt in the sixth was fielded by third baseman Ian Stewart, who threw wide of first base. Despite the apparent miscue, the play was still scored a hit.

The Rockies, who are 2-4 on their 10-game homestand, hoped an extended stay at Coors Field would serve as a platform to make a bona fide push in the National League West. However, this latest setback leaves Colorado (53-66) seven games behind division-leading Arizona (59-58), which lost to Atlanta.

"I have to forget it and move on," Cook said. "I've had a couple of rough starts, and it's just unfortunate that they've come in the middle of when we're trying to make a run. I can't dwell on it, I just have to move forward."

"It's a difficult stretch for Aaron and a difficult stretch for us," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "But he'll rebound from it and so will we."

San Diego (45-72) pounded 13 hits, including a gargantuan two-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez in the ninth that hit the facade of the third deck in right field. Luis Rodriguez, who scored on the blast, added a season-high three hits.

"It was a great performance by a number of guys," Black said. "I think you could classify this as a team win."