Colorado 6, San Diego 3
When: 4:10 PM ET, Sunday, September 18, 2016
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature:
85°
Umpires:
Home -
Adam Hamari, 1B -
Mike Estabrook, 2B -
Greg Gibson, 3B -
Dana DeMuth
Attendance:
25811
By The Sports Xchange
DENVER -- There are no guarantees, of course, but when Chad Bettis starts for the Colorado Rockies, they typically end up exchanging high fives and celebrating a victory.
It was that way again Sunday when Bettis pitched into the sixth and the Rockies parlayed an early five-run rally with superb relief pitching into a 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres.
The sweep of the Padres was the Rockies' first since they won all three games in a series at Coors Field from Sept. 5-7, 2014. The victory also enabled Colorado to win the season series, 10-9.
However, the win was marred by a season-ending injury to Mark Reynolds, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth. On his next plate appearance in the fifth, Reynolds suffered a fractured left hand when he was hit with a pitch thrown by Jose Dominguez.
Reynolds, who will be reevaluated Monday, said he was told surgery might not be necessary. Regardless, the bone will take six weeks to heal.
Reynolds, 33, who can be a free agent after the season, finished with a .282 average, 14 homers and 53 RBIs in 118 games. He broke the hamate bone in the same hand last month but surprisingly was able to return to the Rockies on Aug. 31 after an absence of just over two weeks.
"I'd never broke a bone in my life, and I had two this year in the same hand," Reynolds said. "It's tough -- but going to get it better and get ready for next year."
Bettis (13-7) entered the game 2-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his past three starts. He lacked that sharpness but pitched into the sixth inning, and the Rockies won for the 15th time in his past 18 starts dating from June 9. During that span, Bettis is 9-2 with a 4.27 ERA.
"I think that's something that I pride myself on is just give us an opportunity to win," Bettis said. "And that's all that matters."
Chris Rusin, Boone Logan and Adam Ottavino followed Bettis to the mound, combining to work 3 2/3 scoreless innings and retire 11 of the 13 batters they faced.
After a single in the fifth by Tony Wolters gave the Rockies a 6-1 lead, the Padres began to come back. Wil Myers doubled home two runs in the sixth, and Ryan Schimpf reached on an infield single when he hit a grounder into the Rockies' shift.
That hit finished Bettis' outing. Rusin ended the rally when he struck out pinch-hitter Brett Wallace, retired Hector Sanchez on a fielder's choice and set the side down in order in the seventh. Rusin has made six straight hitless appearances, a span that covers 6 1/3 innings and includes no walks and eight strikeouts.
Logan hit a batter but struck out the side in the eighth. Ottavino gave up a bloop single with two outs in the ninth but struck out Luis Sardinas to earn his fifth save.
The Rockies sent 10 batters to the plate during a five-run fourth, a rally that included four hits and three walks.
Reynolds' two-run homer put the Rockies ahead 2-1 with one out and came after David Dahl flared a double over third base.
Following the homer, Jarred Cosart (0-4) retired the next batter and rather suddenly self-destructed, giving up a single to Wolters followed by three straight walks. The last to DJ LeMahieu forced in a run and ended Cosart's day at 88 pitches.
Dominguez fell behind Carlos Gonzalez 3-1 and paid dearly when Gonzalez lined a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-1.
Adam Rosales hit his 10th homer with two outs in the second to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. As he neared home plate, Rosales paid tribute to teammate Yangervis Solarte, whose 31-year-old wife, Yuliette, died Saturday of complications from cancer. As he neared home plate, Rosales mimicked Solarte's pronounced hand clap that resembles the snapping jaws of an alligator.
"We talked about it before the game today," Rosales said. "If somebody hit a home run, we'd do the alligator arm for Solarte. We miss Solarte right now, and our hearts definitely go out to him and his family. Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone. I thought about Yuliette and Solarte the whole time (going around the bases). It was just a tribute. I feel like it would mean a lot to Solarte to know how much he means to us, how much his family means to the San Diego Padres.
"I don't hit too many home runs, but I was happy that I was able to do that and acknowledge the Solarte family."
NOTES: Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu extended his career-high on-base streak to 34 games. ... Rockies RHP Chad Bettis became the first Colorado pitcher to draw two walks in a game since Juan Nicasio on April 9, 2013. ... Padres C Derek Norris was not in the lineup but was announced as a pinch hitter in the ninth after leaving Saturday night's game in the fifth inning with a sprained left middle finger, the result of getting hit with a foul tip. ... The Padres will call up several players from Triple-A El Paso on Thursday, two days after that team plays Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Triple-A National Championship Game in Memphis. ... Rockies RHP Jon Gray, who set a franchise record with 16 strikeouts Saturday night, recorded his 200th career strikeout in his 192nd career inning. The only other Rockies pitcher to reach 200 career strikeouts in fewer than 200 career innings is Rex Brothers (163 1/3 innings).
Top Game Performances
Hitting
San Diego |
|
Colorado |
Adam Rosales | Player |
Tony Wolters
|
2 |
Hits |
3 |
1 |
RBI |
1 |
1 |
HR |
0 |
5 |
TB |
3 |
.500 |
Avg |
.750 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
San Diego
|
6 |
1 |
10 |
.188 |
11 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Colorado
|
10 |
1 |
14 |
.294 |
16 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
1 |