An injection of San Diego Padres pitching into Coors Field and the Colorado Rockies' offense regained its strength in a 12-7 victory on Friday night. The Rockies put one run on the scoreboard in six of the eight innings they played. Unlike previous games, the Rockies were able to hit with runners in scoring position, going 7-for-17.
Troy Tulowitzki paced the offense in his 3-for-5 night with a two-run double to open the scoring in the first inning, and then he followed with his 10th home run of the season with a solo shot in the fourth inning. Carlos Gonzalez got into the act as well with an RBI triple in the second to score Jonathan Herrera and then he scored on the same play because of an errant throw by Jason Bartlett. CarGo stole two bases, too, for six on the season.
Cameron Maybin was an annoyance to the Rockies, first with a solo homer in the second inning and then a two-run home run in the seventh. The latter brought the game within two for the Padres, 9-7, but the bottom of the eighth turned into a failure for Padres reliever Ernesto Frieri. Carlos Gonzalez drew a walk and stole second base. Dexter Fowler entered the game as a pinch-hitter, drove in Gonzalez and advanced to second on the throw back into the infield. Ryan Spilborghs sent a ball fly to left field for Ryan Ludwick, who should have easily caught the ball. But Ludwick flubbed the catch, allowing a run to score and Spilborghs to reach third base. Frieri then committed a balk to send Spilborghs across home plate, making it a 12-7 game in favor of the Rockies.
Starter Jorge De La Rosa (5-1) allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks in 5.2 innings. He made two wild pitches as well. Matt Belisle allowed Maybin's two-run home run, but Matt Reynolds, Rafael Betancourt and Huston Street combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and allowed just one hit.
The second game of this series is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. MT on Saturday. Jhoulys Chacin and Aaron Harang are the scheduled starts.
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