Jake Cronenworth joined Jackson Merrill on the injured list before the San Diego Padres hosted the Colorado Rockies Friday night.
And San Diego kept rolling anyway, posting an 8-0 shutout for its eighth win this year at Petco Park. The Padres will try to make it 13 consecutive home wins, dating back to last season, in the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday.
“We’re playing good baseball,” said second baseman Jose Iglesias, who slapped two RBI singles in a six-run fifth inning on Friday. “We’re running the bases really well. Our pitchers are executing pitches very well.”
The fifth inning saw the Padres send 12 men to the plate. The only extra-base hit was Manny Machado’s RBI ground-rule double but they added five singles and two walks while capitalizing on two errors from catcher Hunter Goodman.
It was a representation of what manager Mike Shildt vowed his team would do after Cronenworth (cracked rib) went on the shelf.
“Winners spot solutions and that’s what we try to do every day,” Shildt said. “We’ve got a good club. We’ve got a lot of good parts. We have a deep team.”
One of those good parts, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game with a shoulder issue. He collected two hits, including a solo homer, and swiped his sixth base to tie Machado for the team lead.
Lefthander Kyle Hart (1-0, 11.12) gets the start and will try to bounce back from a rough outing Sunday, when he failed to make it out of the first inning against the Chicago Cubs, allowing five runs as he walked four. San Diego rallied for an 8-7 win.
While the Padres try to stay unbeaten at home, Colorado attempts to bounce back from another blowout loss. The Rockies are just 3-10 and have been outscored 76-40 on the season.
However, the Rockies have hope for the future in hard-throwing right-hander Chase Dollander. The former college pitcher at Tennessee won his MLB debut Sunday with a 12-5 decision over the Athletics, allowing four runs in five innings and striking out six.
“I was pumped up. I was trying my best to low-key it a little bit,” Dollander said. “But at times you kind of have to let it eat. And once I got settled, it was really fun.”
Dollander can let it “eat” like few others. His fastball got to 99.3 mph and his cutter hit 90.9. Bringing him up from Triple-A Albuquerque was a natural step for a team that needs to emphasize the future because the present appears bleak in a division that could have three playoff teams in October.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Padres are off to a combined 32-10 to start the season, while the Arizona Diamondbacks are playing .500 ball at 7-7
The only bright spot offensively Friday night for Colorado was second baseman Kyle Farmer, who had all three of its hits, including two doubles.
–Field Level Media
