The breaks went the Padres' way for much of the night as they topped the Rockies
This could have been a very different game. There were a number of moments when the character of the game could have shifted in the Rockies' favor; unfortunately, those moments went the Padres' way.
Jorge De La Rosa pitched five solid innings and one shaky one. The bad inning in question was the fifth, when he gave up two runs, but you could probably chalk that up to bad luck. Two of the three hits in the inning were infield knocks that just eluded the defense. The first run scored on a passed ball (we can't even blame that on Wilin Rosario, as Jordan Pacheco was again catching for DLR). Chris Denorfia's subsequent double was the only hard hit ball in the frame.
Those two runs (and a Tommy Medica home run in the second) were all that Andrew Cashner needed. Cashner is a tough nut to crack; he throws his fastball in the mid to upper 90s and it darts this way and that like a pigeon on crack. He allowed only two runs, both off the bat of Justin Morneau. In the second inning, Morneau blasted a change up into the sand box in right center, and in the eighth he brought Carlos Gonzalez home on a sacrifice fly.
But the Rockies had their chances, and they came oh so close to converting them. In the third inning with two men on Cargo lined a bullet to right field that Xavier Nady barely tracked got to. Michael Cuddyer smashed a liner to second base with two men on, but Jedd Gyorko snagged it. And most painful of all, Pacheco grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. If any of those chances had gone the Rockies' way, the entire complexion of the game would have changed.
So it goes. DLR's final line was six innings and three runs allowed, with four Ks and one walk. Despite that interminable fifth inning, it was his best outing of the year. Nolan Arenado made another unbelievable diving play to get Jorge out of that fifth inning. Chad Bettis worked a dominant eighth inning, including a filthy change up to strike out Will Venable. It's nice to see Justin Morneau display some power; he went three for three with a double and a dinger.
But a loss is a loss. The Rockies drop to 7-9. They'll attempt to split the series tomorrow.
| Roll Call Info | |
|---|---|
| Total comments | 936 |
| Total commenters | 33 |
| Commenter list | Asauce, BikeChess, BubbaFan, Chacinisthefuture, Chrysicat, DomP, Drew Creasman, ES46NE10, Goeldfinger, Junction Rox, Nephelimdream, NoDo Joe, Northsider1964, Oldfoagie, PurpleToPurple, RhodeIslandRoxfan, RockyMountainWay91, Roxman4ever, SDcat09, Sjamb, The Lodo Magic Man, Thnikkaman, bix783783, butterfly2, dmoneyrox, dyzz, goldenInGolden, holly96, idj2, papality, sploo, webgem14, zmiko |
| Story URLs | |