Lauer Roughed Up, Padres Lose Big in Colorado 12-2
Credit: AP Photo
Denver, Colorado
The Rockies beat the Padres 12-2 in San Diego’s first trip to Colorado this season. The Padres looked to get their offense going against 24-year old right-hander German Marquez (3-2, 3.46 ERA, 3.69 FIP). Marquez holds a 1.55 ERA and .125 opponent average away from Coors Field but has been vulnerable at home (5.87 ERA, .330 opponent average). Left-hander Eric Lauer (2-3, 4.30 ERA, 4.35 FIP) started for the Padres. Lauer has had bad luck away from Petco Park, with an ERA of 5.40, despite striking out 19 in 16.2 innings away, and holding opponents to a .266 average. His luck didn’t get any better against the red hot Rockies offense.
Colorado pushed two runs across in the third inning. With one out, Charlie Blackmon singled to right, and Trevor Story followed with his ninth home run of the year.
The Rockies opened the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, putting runners at the corner with no outs. Garrett Hampson was then hit by a pitch while bunting but the pitch was called a strike. Hampson stayed at the plate, eventually walking on eight pitches to load the bases. Tony Wolters drew a 3-0 count before grounding to second. Greg Garcia made a diving stop to his left but couldn’t make an accurate throw to second, which allowed Ian Desmond to score. Lauer then went 2-0 to Marquez before leaving a pitch over the plate, which Marquez lined a double to centerfield, clearing the bases and giving the Rockies a 6-0 lead.
After a walk to Blackmon, Andy Green finally pulled Lauer for Matt Wisler (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 5.30 FIP). Wisler struck out Story and Nolan Arenado before giving up a 2-run double to Daniel Murphy. Desmond scored Murphy with his second hit of the inning, making the score 9-0. Wisler finally struck out David Dahl to end the inning.
Lauer took the loss, dropping his record to 2-4 on the year. He gave up eight runs on eight hits and one walk. He struck out one in three innings pitched, ending the night with a 5.75 ERA for the season.
The Padres finished with 12 hits, only one for extra bases, and no walks. They threatened several times but couldn’t get the big hit.
The Padres had four hits in the first three innings but couldn’t score. With one out in the fourth, Ty France was hit by a pitch and Manuel Margot singled through the 5.5 hole. Austin Hedges flew out to centerfield, and Lauer struck out to end the inning.
The Padres started the fifth inning with three singles by Garcia, Franmil Reyes, and Manny Machado to score their first run of the game. France hit the fourth single of the inning to score Reyes from second, but Margot struck out to end the inning, giving Marquez seven strikeouts in five innings pitched.
Marquez came back out in the sixth inning, having already thrown 91 pitches. Hedges and Wisler grounded out, but Garcia reached with his second single in as many innings, chasing Marquez on his 102nd pitch. Marquez scattered ten hits and a hit batsman while walking none. He gave up two runs in five and two-thirds innings, picking up his fourth win of the year.
Phil Maton took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and got a 1-2-3 inning. He couldn’t hold off the top of the Rockies order as Blackmon and Story reached on singles with one out in the eighth. Arenado followed with a triple. He came home on Murphy’s ground ball to second, making the score 12-2. Colorado put runners at the corners with two more hits before Maton escaped the inning.
The twelve runs given up were the most the Padres have given up all year. The previous high of ten runs given up came on April 1st against the Diamondbacks in Petco Park. The Rockies last scored 12 runs last night beating the Giants 12-11. Tonight was the fourth time in eight games that the Rockies have scored at least 11 runs.
The Padres and Rockies meet tomorrow night again for game two of the three-game series. Joey Lucchesi (3-2, 5.00 ERA) will face off against Jon Gray (3-3, 4.22 ERA).
