The Colorado Rockies have gone through a Rolodex of starting pitchers this year, using openers, rookies and pitchers signed off the open market to get through the season.
One man has been an oasis in the rotation, however — Austin Gomber.
The left-hander has made a team-high 21 starts this season and has reliably taken the ball when his spot in the rotation is due. Lately that’s been a good thing for Colorado.
Gomber is 4-2 with a 3.48 ERA over his last seven starts, and he will start the opener of a three-game series when the San Diego Padres come to Denver on Monday night. Opposing Gomber (8-8, 5.83 ERA overall) will be Padres right-hander Seth Lugo (4-5, 3.62).
The Rockies hope to recover from a disappointing series loss to the visiting Oakland A’s over the weekend. They were outscored 19-8 in losing the first two games but took the finale 2-0 on Sunday.
Gomber would have nine wins had Colorado’s bullpen not given up a lead in the eighth inning in Washington on Tuesday. The positive from that outing was Gomber’s continued success with his control. He extended his streak of not walking a batter to 27 innings, which bodes well for any pitcher at Coors Field.
“Part of that’s probably luck — 27 innings is a long time,” Gomber told reporters after the game. “I don’t pitch to avoid the walks. I’m attacking, trying to throw strikes.”
Gomber is wrapping up a month in which, going into Monday, he has an ERA half of what he posted in June. He was 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA last month but is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in July.
He is 2-3 with a 3.70 ERA with 11 appearances (seven starts) against San Diego since breaking into the majors in 2018 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Padres were projected to be a contender for the National League crown this season but have scuffled for most of the season. They are coming off an impressive sweep of the Texas Rangers, who are the surprising leaders in the AL West, but are two games below .500.
The Padres have four wins in their past five games and have a chance to make up ground this week. San Diego will play three games in Denver before returning home to host the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in a four-game weekend series.
Lugo can keep the momentum going against a Colorado team he has handled in his career. Lugo has faced the Rockies 10 times — three of them starts — and is 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA in 30 2/3 innings.
The Padres likely will be without their leading hitter, Ha-Seong Kim, who left Sunday’s win after a collision at home plate on a headfirst slide in the third inning. Manager Bob Melvin told reporters following the 5-3 win that Kim suffered a jammed shoulder and is considered day-to-day.
San Diego’s recent surge might change the strategy of the front office approaching Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“As hard as some of these (losses) have been, some of these series have been, we’ve always responded,” Melvin said. “Now, we haven’t responded with a huge winning streak. But we’ve always put those in the rear-view mirror, come out with the odds against us, with some momentum against us, and put together some good games.”
–Field Level Media
