Padres 13, Rockies 6: What a (not good) way to go out

Sep 25, 2022 - 11:15 PM

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The Rockies had a roller coaster of an ending to the season at Coors Field. It started off not-fun, got fun-ish, and ended not-fun. It’s always a bittersweet ending, but this one was especially bitter.

Not-Poetry

As poetic as it was for Kyle Freeland to be both the Coors Field Opening and Closing Day starter, the results of the Closing Day start were far from that. Freeland had a rocky start to the game, facing seven Padres and allowing four to reach (one came around to score). He allowed a lead-off double to Ha-Seong Kim and got Juan Soto to ground out, but then gave up a single to Manny Machado and hit Brandon Drury. Jake Cronenworth flew out, but then Wil Myers got his day going with a gound rule double also. But Jurickson Profar grounded out to short to end the inning. Freeland pitched a 1-2-3 second, but then the wheels fell off in the third.

Things started off with a single to Soto and a strikeout of Machado, but then five-straight hits (three run-scoring extra-base hits) gave the Padres a 7-1 lead — Drury doubled, Cronenworth tripled, Myers homered, Profar singled and Campusano singled — and Freeland’s day was over after a strikeout of José Azocar.

His final pitching line: 2 ²⁄₃ innings, nine hits, seven runs (all earned), two strikeouts, one home runs, one sacrifice fly, and one hit batter. Freeland threw 63 pitches, 46 for strikes. And that’s definitely not how the Colorado Kid wanted to end his 2022 Coors Field campaign.

Determination

The Rockies, though, were undeterred by the deficit. They chipped away at the lead, starting with an RBI single by Sean Bouchard in the second inning:

Ryan McMahon smacked another solo homer in the third:

And Bouchard knocked in two more runs in the fourth. In his last two games, he has gone 4-for-6 with a run scored, a double (his first), a walk and a strikeout. Since his second call-up on Aug. 30, Bouchard has had back-to-back hitless games one time (Sept. 11 and 17) and has had back-to-back hit nights three times. He has yet to have a 3+ game hit streak, though..

Yonathan Daza doubled in the fifth, and was driven home by Charlie Blackmon to make it a 7-5 Padres lead.

And finally, Diáz scored pinch-runner Connor Joe in the eighth, but the Rockies fell just shy of taco’s.

Pain

The Rockies really seemed to be rallying after that tough start. Jake Bird, Justin Lawrence, Chad Smith and Dinelson Lamet combined for 4 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings, combining for two hits, three walks (all by Bird in the fourth) and three strikeouts. Unfortunately, though, then came Alex Colomé.

Fresh off the Bereavement List, Colomé entered in the eighth inning and exited before recording a single out. He faced four batters and allowed four runs on four hits. All of those runs were scored via the home run — Manny Machado and Brandon Drury went back-to-back with a three-runner and a solo to put the nail in the Coors Field finale.

He was relieved by Gavin Hollowell, who allowed two runs (one that almost didn’t score based on an excellent rally by Randal Grichuk and Elias Díaz) on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Austin Gomber finished it with just ²⁄₃ of an inning.

Up Next

The Rockies have Monday off, but then start their final stretch of the season on the road in California. They start in San Francisco on Tuesday at 7:45pm MT. It’ll be Germán Márquez (8-12, 5.15 ERA) vs. Logan Webb (14-9, 2.93 ERA).

See you then!