Entering the series finale with a 14-13 record and a chance to take three of four from a poor Colorado Rockies team, Thursday’s game was a must-win for San Diego.

In a catastrophic pitching implosion in the eighth inning, Colorado came back down 9-4 en route to an unfathomable 10-9 Rockies win.

Despite cruising to a 5-2 win Wednesday to go ahead in the series 2-1, concerns of inconsistency remained for the Padres; after the electric first inning in which the offense scored four, the bats only notched one more run in the remaining eight frames

Surprisingly, the Friars did not homer in the first three games at Coors Field for the first time since 2013.

With Yu Darvish still on the 15-day injured list with neck tightness, Mike Shildt handed the ball to Randy Vásquez to make his second start of the season. In his first outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, the right-hander went five innings and allowed one earned run.

“I thought he threw the ball well,” Shildt said in an interview with 97.3 The Fan following Vásquez’s first start. “His stuff is really good. This guy’s got a great arm. His secondary pitches are good.”

Frustratingly, Vásquez did not mimic his success from his first start, getting tagged for four earned runs in two and ⅔ innings pitched.

For the Rockies and Bud Black, Dakota Hudson, who leads baseball with four losses, toed the slab with a 5.06 ERA in 21 and ⅓ innings pitched.

The Rockies struck first in the first inning, and for just the fourth time in the young season, Colorado held a 1-0 lead. With runners at the corners, Elias Díaz scored Brenton Doyle on a 364-foot sacrifice fly to José Azocar in centerfield.

However, the Friars answered back immediately in the second inning. With Luis Campusano on second and Tyler Wade on first, Eguy Rosario dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.

Then, Azocar grounded out to second to tie the score 1-1.

San Diego built off the momentum from the second frame in the third. Fernando Tatis Jr. began the inning with a rocket 113-MPH double before Jake Cronenworth moved him up 90 feet on a 4-3 groundout.

With Tatis at third, Jurickson Profar singled him home. With a lead, Ha-Seong Kim belted the first Padres home run of the series, a 404-foot blast to put San Diego ahead 4-1.

You have to love Ha-Seong Kim 🫶 pic.twitter.com/jvhkyxojfX

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 25, 2024

Unfortunately for the Padres, Colorado bounced back and tied the score in the bottom of the third, the big blow coming from a two-run homer off the bat of Elehuris Montero.

Shildt went to right-hander Jhony Brito to relive Vásquez. Brito stopped the bleeding and maintained the now 4-4 tie.

Following the rough inning, the Padres answered right back. Xander Bogaerts singled Rosario home and advanced to second on the play.

With one out and two RISP, Cronenwoth scored Azocar on a sacrifice fly to take a 6-4 lead.

The Friars doubled their lead in the seventh inning to four runs when Profar crushed a 405-foot two-run homer to right, his third round-tripper of the season.

That's a Mile High Mash if we've ever seen one 🤯 pic.twitter.com/AMYMKyB2w7

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 25, 2024

In the eighth, Rosario singled Wade home to extend the lead 9-4.

While the first three games of the series felt “normal,” a disastrous series of events turned Friday’s game into a true “Coors Field” game.

When the game felt sealed, the Rockies scored six runs in the eighth to take the lead in a nightmare inning and rough outing from Wandy Peralta, who relieved Yuki Matsui. With two runners on, the first pitch from Peralta traveled 448 feet, a three-run home run for Hunter Goodman that brought the Rockies within two runs. 

At the end of his line, Peralta allowed four earned runs in just a third of an inning.

After more traffic on the base paths, Doyle singled Jacob Stallings home, and Colorado tied the score 9-9 on a passed ball that scored Ezequiel Tovar. The Rockies took the lead 10-9 when Díaz doubled off Stephen Kolek to score Doyle.

Distraught from the unthinkable Colorado comeback, the Padres went down in order in the ninth to split the series 2-2 with a very bad Rockies team.

Max Schwartzberg

A San Diegan born and raised, Max Schwartzberg is a diehard Padres fan who created and hosts the YouTube channel Padres Previews, a hub where he passionately delivers Padres news, updates, reactions, and hype videos. At Northeastern, Max broadcasts and writes for baseball, basketball, and hockey. Max dreams of following in the steps of Padres broadcaster and Northeastern alumnus Don Orsillo to become a Major League Baseball announcer.