San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Yangervis Solarte drove in four runs as
the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 14-3 in the opener of a
three-game set on Friday night.
Derek Norris had three RBI and Justin Upton knocked in two runs for the
Padres, who stopped their three-game losing streak. Yonder Alonso, Wil Myers,
Will Middlebrooks and Alexi Amarista each had an RBI in the win.
Ian Kennedy (1-1) went six innings and allowed two runs — both solo homers —
with six strikeouts. Kennedy, making his second start of the season after a
stint on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, bounced back from
allowing eight runs in his season debut against the Dodgers on Saturday.
Eddie Butler (2-2) was charged with five runs — three earned — over four
innings on the hill for Colorado, which has lost three in a row and four of
its last five.
Drew Stubbs and Nolan Arenado hit home runs in defeat.
Myers led off the bottom of the first with a walk and hustled over to third on
a one-out single to right by Matt Kemp. Upton then legged out a force out to
shortstop that allowed Myers to cross home for a 1-0 lead.
San Diego opened things up in the fourth thanks to some falty fielding from
Colorado. Butler hit Upton with a pitch to put him on with no outs, then Upton
raced over to third on an error by Butler attempting a pickoff play. Norris
followed with a single that brought Upton home for a 2-0 lead.
After Alonso doubled, Middlebrooks hit a soft grounder to Troy Tulowitzki, who
bobbled the ball as Alonso got hung up with him going back to the bag.
Colorado manager Walt Weiss came out to see if runner’s interference could be
called, but Alonso gave Tulowitzki a lane to field the ball and the play
stood.
DJ LaMahieu then botched a ground ball off the bat of Amarista that allowed
each runner to move up a base and increase the Padres lead to 3-0. Kennedy
popped out and Myers struck out on the 11th pitch of his at-bat preceding a
clutch single from Solarte that made it 5-0.
Stubbs led off the fifth with a blast to left field to get Colorado on the
board.
The Padres got that run back in the home half, however, on a couple of
bloopers. Upton singled with one out before Norris and Alonso each popped
singles over shortstop and second base, respectively.
Arenado took Kennedy deep in the sixth to again cut the Rockies deficit to
four.
Solarte’s two-run single highlighted an eight-run eighth inning as the Padres
won it going away. Nick Hundley had an RBI double in the ninth to account for
the final margin.
Game Notes
Colorado committed a total of four errors in the loss … Upton, who went 3-
for-4, had two stolen bases and also scored two runs in the win … Norris
also collected three hits … LaMahieu, who leads the MLB in batting, had two
hits and increased his average to .417.
