King tosses complete-game shutout as Padres sweep Rockies
Credit: AP Photo
Another thrilling weekend of baseball at Petco Park is in the books, as the Padres secured a sweep of the Rockies in dominant fashion.
They remain undefeated at home, thanks to a quick start offensively and a career outing on the mound from Michael King.
King made his fourth start of his pivotal contract season and took off from the start. He took just eight pitches to get through the first inning and fourteen more to get past the second.
It was a different story for the Rockies’ starter, Kyle Freeland. Luis Arraez, single, and Manny Machado walked to start the inning, putting pressure on Freeland. Coming up with two outs, Oscar Gonzales grounded a sweeper through the 5.5 hole to plate the game’s first run. From there, the floodgates opened, as Yuli Gurriel singled to tack one another run, before Jose Iglesias found the gap in right center to score two more.
Teeing off ?️
pic.twitter.com/aGon0sE8zh
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 13, 2025
Michael King mowed through the Rockies lineup, needing just 41 pitches to get through the fourth. The Padres found a golden opportunity in the bottom half, loading the bases with no outs for Fernando Tatis Jr. However, Tatis Jr. grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, though it did score a run. Luis Arraez lined out in the next at-bat, allowing the Rockies to miraculously get out of the inning, surrendering just one run.
The Padres failed to capitalize on runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth, but came through in the seventh. Manny Machado led off the inning with a gapper to right, setting the Padres up once more. Xander Bogaerts went down swinging, but Jason Heyward hit a liner to right that Nick Martini couldn’t come up with. Machado came across to plate the game’s sixth run, capping the Padres’ run total for the series at 16.
Michael King cruised through seven innings, throwing just 74 pitches and earning the nod of the eighth inning. Although he allowed a walk in the inning, he struck out the next batter on four pitches, earning him a bid at a complete game shutout.
Getting to the bottom half of the ninth, King opened the frame with a quick strikeout of Adael Amador. However, Ezequiel Tovar worked an impressive at-bat and singled, presenting Mike Shildt with a tough decision. With King at 106 pitches, the skipper left his ace on the mound, and it worked out perfectly. Nick Martini bounced into a double play to secure the second complete-game shutout of the MLB season.
Michael King completes the shutout! pic.twitter.com/SuMXdYvlYw
— MLB (@MLB) April 13, 2025
San Diego secured their third home sweep of the season, moving to 10-0 in America’s Finest City. After the game, Bob Scanalan asked catcher Elias Diaz what it was like catching the right-hander today. “I mean, it’s so fun; he executed everything [in] the game plan,” he said, excitedly. Diaz also joked that he still wants to catch a no-hitter, to which King responded by promising him one.
When King spoke on the outing, he was able to quickly blurt “fastball command was good” before being drenched in Gatorade. He was thrilled with the outing, also expressing that he wouldn’t have let Mike Shildt take him out if he tried.
The Padres will put their undefeated home record on the line again tomorrow as the Cubs come in to town. The Padres will have more favorable pitching matchups this time around, as Dylan Cease will begin the weekday series for San Diego.
The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM at Petco Park tomorrow. Cease will match up with Jameson Tallion, who will get the start for Craig Counsell.
A 17-year-old San Diego native, Willy Warren is a baseball fan at heart who created High Leverage Baseball, a combination of around-the-league statistical analysis and breakdowns on X, and daily newsletters on the TikTok platform. Willy passionately studies Journalism at San Dieguito Academy, and is working to become billingual in Spanish to assist in communicating with Latin-born players and coaches.