The Colorado Rockies ended a five-game losing streak on Wednesday afternoon with a 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Rookie Christian Friedrich made his major-league debut and picked up the win with an outstanding outing.
Friedrich (1.50 ERA) had some trouble early on when he allowed one run each in the first and third innings (a Joel Guzman RBI single and a Yonder Alonso double, respectively), but he ended the third inning with a strikeout. He then retired the next six batters before allowing a leadoff single to Chase Headley in the top of the sixth inning. Headley, though, got no farther than second base since Friedrich retired the side 1-2-3 after that hit.
Overall, Friedrich allowed just two runs (one earned) on five hits while walking one and striking out seven.
The Rockies did most of its scoring in the fourth and sixth innings, tagging start Anthony Bass for five of those runs. In the fourth inning, Jason Giambi hit an RBI double to score Carlos Gonzalez. Michael Cuddyer was thrown out at home on the play, but that would have been a moot point had replay shown that Giambi's wall was actually a home run. But replay showed that the ball never hit over the wall, upholding the run scored and the out.
In the sixth inning, Cuddyer tied the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly. Wilin Rosario followed with a two-run double that also went to replay. Just as happened on the Giambi play, the call on the field was upheld. Chris Nelson added an RBI in that inning and then another run for good measure in the eighth inning.
The Rockies (13-17, 5-7 away) are off on Thursday, but they will stay on the road to play the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend.
For more on these teams, visit Rockies blog Purple Row and Padres blog Gaslamp Ball. Check out Baseball Nation and MLB Daily Dish for more news and notes around the leagues.