San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies Box Score on Sep 17, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Sep 17, 2017

DENVER -- After offering little resistance in two losses, the San Diego Padres struck late Sunday to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 and avoid getting swept in their three-game series.

The Padres tied the game with two runs in the eighth and won it in the ninth on a bunt.

Rockies closer Greg Holland (3-6) walked Matt Szczur with one out in the ninth. Szczur scampered to third when Allen Cordoba followed with a single up the middle that went off the glove of diving second baseman DJ LeMahieu.

Szczur scored on Austin Hedges' safety squeeze. Holland charged toward the plate to glove the ball, then dived toward Szczur but was unable to hold the ball while tagging him.

After Kirby Yates (4-5) pitched the eighth, Brad Hand worked the ninth and earned his 18th save.

Jon Gray, the Rockies' top starter, was sailing along before his outing was ended -- not by any offensive stirring by the Padres but by a 1:23 rain delay in the bottom of the fifth.

Gray allowed two hits and one walk in five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and threw 63 pitches, 40 strikes. He has allowed three or fewer runs in 11 consecutive starts, going 5-3 with a 2.54 ERA in that span.

The loss was just the fourth in 14 games for the Rockies. They lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 2 1/2 games and the St. Louis Cardinals by 4 1/2 games in the chase for the second wild-card spot. The Brewers won and the Cardinals lost Sunday.

The Padres broke a season-high-tying five-game losing streak to finish a 3-5 road trip. They also ended a six-game losing streak against the Rockies, their longest against them in franchise history.

The Rockies took a 3-0 lead with a three-run fourth off Jhoulys Chacin, who began his career in the Rockies' organization and pitched at Coors Field for the first time since June 23, 2014. Gerardo Parra singled home a run after Carlos Gonzalez led off with a walk and dashed to third on Nolan Arenado's single to right.

Trevor Story followed Parra with a two-run double, his eighth double of the month, and extended his career-high hitting streak to nine games.

The rain also ended Chacin's 78-pitch outing. He gave up five hits and three runs in 4 1/3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts.

Yangervis Solarte made it 3-1 when he hit his 17th home run in the sixth, a 443-foot drive to left on a first-pitch fastball from Chris Rusin, who allowed homers in consecutive appearances for the first time this season. The Padres had been held scoreless for 17 consecutive innings before the homer.

Rusin came on after the rain delay and hit pinch hitter Jabari Blash, the first batter he faced, but got Carlos Asuaje to ground into a double play ahead of Solarte.

After Asuaje singled with two outs in the eighth and Solarte followed with a double, Scott Oberg came on to face the dangerous Wil Myers and walked him on four pitches. Hector Sanchez lined a two-run single to right to tie the game at 3 before Oberg struck out Cory Spangenberg.

NOTES: Padres 1B Wil Myers was in the lineup after fouling a ball off the back of his right knee Saturday and leaving the game with a contusion. With his 20th steal, Myers joined Ryan Klesko as the second Padres player with multiple seasons with at least 25 homers and 20 stolen bases. ... Rockies pinch hitter Pat Valaika hit a grand slam Saturday from the leadoff spot, and his four RBIs combined with those of Charlie Blackmon marked the first time since 1920, when major league RBI were first recorded on scoresheets, that two players had four RBIs from the leadoff spot in the same game.