Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single snapped a seventh-inning tie Saturday night and the San Diego Padres eked out a 3-2 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies.
The Padres added another run in the seventh and made a winner of reliever Jason Adam (5-2), who was pitching in his second game for San Diego after being acquired Sunday from Tampa Bay. Tanner Scott, another trade deadline acquisition, worked the eighth inning, and closer Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his 24th save in 27 chances.
Peter Lambert (2-5) absorbed the loss in relief of rookie starter Tanner Gordon, who had the best outing of his four major league starts. Gordon allowed just one hit and one run over six innings, walking one and striking out four.
Padres left-hander Martin Perez, acquired Tuesday from Pittsburgh, matched Gordon pitch-for-pitch over six innings. Perez permitted three hits and a run, walking none and fanning seven.
San Diego bunched three of its five hits into its seventh-inning uprising. Jake Cronenworth led off with a single and Manny Machado doubled down the right field line, putting runners on second and third. After Bogaerts knocked in the first run, Jackson Merrill hit a sacrifice fly to deep left that scored Machado with what proved to be the winning run.
Jacob Stallings cracked his sixth homer of the year in the eighth against Scott to draw the Rockies within a run, but they didn’t get another man aboard after that.
Perez entered with an earned run average of 5.20 in 16 starts with the Pirates, and Gordon was rocked to an 8.80 ERA in his first three outings. But both dominated for the game’s first six innings.
The Rockies’ only run off Perez came when Hunter Goodman belted his eighth homer of the year with one out in the third. He drilled a high fastball an estimated 401 feet to left-center.
Gordon mowed down the first 12 men he faced, whiffing three, before running into his only jam in the fifth. Machado walked and Bogaerts grounded a single into short left. After Merrill bunted the runners over, David Peralta tied the game with an RBI grounder to second.
–Field Level Media
