Plunging Padres fall at Coors yet again 8-5
Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Denver, Colorado- Coors Field
The Padres were anxious to get back on the field Thursday afternoon to try and flush out the disappointment of the previous two games. Blake Snell took the mound to try and guide the Padres to just their second win at Coors Field in their last 14 games. Opposite Snell for Colorado was Kyle Freeland, making his third start against the Padres already this season.
Neither pitcher had a banner day.
Snell cruised through the first inning but immediately ran into trouble in the second. He surrendered two doubles, walked three, and allowed a sac fly that brought in three runs for the Rockies, putting the Padres in an early 3-0 hole.
The Padres responded quickly in the top of the third with two runs of their own. Rookie Esteury Ruiz continued his hot start to his big league career with his first double and then his first big league stolen base, getting to third with no outs. After Trent Grisham worked a walk, he stole second, putting runners on second and third with no one out. San Diego then got both runners home via the sacrifice fly, the first one by Ha-Seong Kim, followed by Jake Cronenworth.
Snell tossed a scoreless third before yet again running into trouble in the fourth frame. After getting the leadoff hitter out, Snell then allowed two singles before getting a second out. Garret Hampson stole second, putting runners on second and third for Colorado. The Padres’ lefty then walked three batters in a row, walking in two runs. This gave Colorado a 5-2 lead. Snell was chased from the game at 99 pitches, completing just 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on six walks and four hits.
“Today, he had trouble throwing strikes,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re using a lot of guys here. They are taxed.”
Taylor Scott entered the game and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, preventing further damage. This allowed the Padres to conjure a comeback in the top of the fifth. Grisham sparked the rally with a solo homer off of Freeland. Kim followed that up with a double. Cronenworth then drove Kim in with a single up the middle, cutting the deficit to just one. This chased Rockies lefty Freeland, from the game, much to his chagrin.
Grish goes DEEP! 🚀#TimeToShine | @Padres pic.twitter.com/eAXIlkSPaz
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) July 14, 2022
Cronenworth got to second on a groundout by Manny Machado, which ended up being a key play. Jorge Alfaro then lined a ball up the middle, which scored the tying run.
The Rockies responded in the bottom of the sixth. Nabil Crismatt struggled with command, walking Connor Joe ahead of a run-scoring double by Jose Iglesias, and the Rockies took the lead right back. C.J. Cron singled another run home, putting Colorado’s lead back at two. Randal Grichuk put the game at 8-5 with an RBI double off of Luis Garcia.
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The Friars were unable to amount any sort of threat in their final four frames, being silenced by the Rockies’ normally lackluster bullpen. The Padres fell 8-5, losing three out of four to Colorado. They are in a rough stretch, having gone 5-12 in their last 17 games.
Coors Field continues to be a house of horrors, as San Diego has dropped 13 of their last 14 games there.
They look to finish off the first half of the season on a strong note, as they come home for three games against the Diamondbacks this weekend.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.
We can’t expect the Padres to compete against the Rockies. At 41-49, they’re an unstoppable juggernaut. In fact, the Padres are fortunate to win 1 out of 14 games!
Herein lies so much of the problem:
“Today, he had trouble throwing strikes,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re using a lot of guys here. They are taxed.”
My, how things have changed. Instead of making excuses and coddling players, the managers back in the day would be kicking buts and benching players (e.g. Hosmer). The soft, self-esteem approach is what we get in SD. If just one of the many Padres players were bench who stood there and admired their not-home run hit the wall, then perhaps the other players would take this seriously. Maybe if Grisham were benched, or sent down, instead of being handed unmerited playing time, then someone more deserving, and hungry, could play, AND help the team.
Get used to a sucky team. This group is going no where, fast. Thanks AJ!!
Grisham is actually a player to stick with, a good glove and a league average bat is playable. Hosmer on the other hand might not be playable in a softball beer league.
As stated in another article, Grisham has negative 2 runs saved this year, as opposed to positive 15 runs saved between 2020-21. Also, he is 137th out of 137 batters in batting average. He has potential, the point is, he needs a lot of correction, and perhaps motivation to make corrections, as does Hosmer.