Padres power through Joe Musgrove's absence with strong bullpen effort, take series from Rockies
The Padres’ Trent Grisham, left, congratulates Gary Sanchez as he returns to the dugout after hitting the first of his two solo home runs on Wednesday against the Rockies.
Ha-Seong Kim came to play right from the start.
Juan Soto continued to launch baseballs to seats. So did Gary Sánchez, twice. Fernando Tatis Jr. did so for the 100th time.
Nick Martinez did his portion and more. Ray Kerr battled as he never had before. Scott Barlow made a strong first impression. Tom Cosgrove and Luis García closed out what became a rout.
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On a sunny Colorado afternoon, when it really needed to be, and in contrast to how it so often has been this season, the Padres’ whole was as great as its parts.
“We just picked each other up,” Tatis said. “That’s what a good team is about. We definitely did that this series.”
With their scheduled starting pitcher already home in San Diego with a sore shoulder, the Padres did what a team in a corner must. They got the job done with a bunch of pitchers backed up by a bunch of offense, closing out a series win with an 11-1 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday.
“Really good team win today,” said Barlow, who joined his new team at its downtown hotel here around 8 a.m. Thursday after catching a 6 a.m. flight from Kansas City. “It was really fun to be part of it.”
The players acquired Tuesday at the trade deadline — infielder Ji Man Choi and starting pitcher Rich Hill from the Pirates, infielder Garrett Cooper from the Marlins and Barlow from the Royals — might be seeing a new version of the 2023 Padres.
Their fifth victory in their past six games and 17th victory in 27 games since the start of July moved them within one game of .500 (54-55) for the first time since they were 35-36 on June 18. By winning 10 of their past 15 games, they have halved their deficit in the National League wild-card race and sit four games out of the NL’s final playoff spot.
“We have played probably our best baseball in a span,” Tatis said, “and we’re gonna keep that going.”
The Padres led from the third pitch Wednesday, as Kim hit a fat Kyle Freeland fastball into the left field bleachers. Soto’s two-run homer to the second deck of seats beyond right field in the third inning, his third home run in two games, made it 3-0. Sánchez, with his second two-homer game in four days, launched a solo homer to center field in the sixth inning to make it 4-1 and another one to about the same spot in the ninth inning to make it 5-1. A seven-run ninth also included Tatis’ 100th career homer, a three-run shot, Jake Cronenworth’s RBI double and a two-run single by Sánchez.
All that and the fine work of five Padres relievers turned what could have been a crisis into a rout.
After a leadoff double in the first inning, Martinez retired nine straight batters to get through three innings on a day in which they were cobbling together innings because a sore throwing shoulder caused Joe Musgrove to be scratched.
Martinez, who began the season as a starter and has now pitched in more games than any Padres pitcher, was working multiple innings for the second time in three days and had not thrown more than two innings in a game since April 26. So after 38 pitches and one more inning than had been expected, he was finished.
“It starts with Martinez, who I mean, man, (has taken) the ball in any situation we asked him to this year,” manager Bob Melvin said. “... He goes out there and gives us three innings on a day we needed a starter. I can’t say enough about what he’s meant to this team and what he continues to do.”
Kerr, who was recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday, came in throwing 99 mph but not throwing many pitches in the strike zone. He also tried to throw one too quickly, having a ball four charged when he came set before the batter was ready. Those issues contributed to him loading the bases with one out in the fourth.
A groundout to first base scored the Rockies’ only run in the inning, as Kerr then escaped with his second strikeout.
Kerr was the victim of a Coors Field double leading off the fifth, as Brenton Doyle’s blooper to center field fell between three fielders in the massive prairie/outfield in baseball’s biggest ballpark. Kerr then struck out the side and came back out struck out Ryan McMahon, the Rockies’ most dangerous hitter, leading off the sixth.
Kerr’s 56 pitches were the most he had thrown in a major league contest — 31 more than his previous high — and more than he had thrown in any game since he was starting in Double-A in 2019.
“That was key,” Melvin said of Kerr’s endurance.
Barlow, acquired Tuesday from the Royals, got the final two outs of the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh.
“Best feeling ever,” Barlow said of contributing right away. “... Long day, but good to end on a good note.”
Cosgrove worked a scoreless eighth, and García loaded the bases with one out before ending the game with a strikeout and fly ball to center field.
With Pedro Avila having started Tuesday as the latest pitcher to fill in for Michael Wacha, the bullpen covered the entirety of the past two games.
“Today was a very gutsy performance by the bullpen,” Martinez said. “Back-to-back bullpen days is really tough, especially here in Colorado. And those are the two games we won.”
The Padres lost Monday’s opener 4-3 in 10 innings, a wrenching result similar to so many this season. But they came back to score 19 runs over the final two games.
“This game, I feel like it lifted us as a team and (showed) what we’re really capable of,” Tatis said. “We came with a mission to Colorado, to win the series and keep the good momentum that we have. And we just did that.”
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
