The Rockies had their sticks working on Monday, particularly in a five-run fourth inning dominated by doubles.
Josh Rutledge had three hits including a double and a home run and Jason Pridie went 4-for-4 with a walk as the Rockies beat the Padres, 9-7, to secure their first win in their last seven games.
The Rockies tagged Padres starter Tyson Ross for six runs on 12 hits in 4⅓ innings, despite striking out six times. Most of the damage was done in the fourth, when Colorado strung together four consecutive doubles--and five in the frame overall--en route to plating five runs. The Padres countered with five runs over the next two innings off of Brett Anderson, although only three were earned because of a two-out error by Troy Tulowitzki followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Xavier Nady.
Anderson wasn't at his best, falling behind 3-0 on several occasions, but he utilized his heavy sinker to induce grounders in a few of those situations and wound up lasting six innings. Anderson allowed eight hits but did not issue a walk and struck out four. The also had an infield single and a sacrifice bunt in three plate appearances. The hit was the first of Anderson's pro career, he told MLB.com's Thomas Harding after the game.
Tulowitzki had a rough day in his first action since being hit by a pitch last week. In addition to the error, Tulo went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a GIDP at the plate.
But there were far more positives than negatives for the Rockies on this day. Carlos Gonzalez had a couple of hits, as did Justin Morneau, who seems to have benefited from getting some work in against minor leaguers on Sunday. Tim Wheeler added a home run in the ninth inning for his second dinger of the spring, tying Rutledge and Tulowitzki for the team lead.
Chris Martin had a hiccup in the ninth inning, allowing a pair of runs on three hits, but the other components of the Rockies' bullpen were solid. Chad Bettis struck out a batter in a perfect seventh inning and Tommy Kahnle following with a clean eighth.
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The Rockies have a rare off-day on Tuesday and will resume Cactus League play against the Cubs at 7:40 p.m. MT on Wednesday. That game will be the first of six spring training games aired by ROOT Sports and will be started by Franklin Morales.