Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night enabled the San Diego Padres to outlast the visiting Colorado Rockies 8-7.
Jackson Merrill started the winning rally with a single off Jimmy Herget (0-4), then stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Hunter Goodman, Colorado’s fourth error.
After walks to Luis Rengifo and pinch-hitter Sung-Mun Song filled the bases, Bogaerts delivered the winning run. It was the third time this year San Diego has walked off Colorado.
Mason Miller (3-1) fanned the side in the top of the ninth for the win as San Diego won its fourth straight game and climbed over .500 for the first time since July 1. The Padres finished with 16 hits, five from Fernando Tatis Jr.
Neither starter was involved in the decision. Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen pitched four-plus innings, permitting eight hits and three runs with a walk and two strikeouts. San Diego’s Michael King yielded four runs off six hits and a walk in six innings, fanning six.
The Padres initiated scoring in the second with two two-out runs. Luis Campusano doubled down the left field line to plate Gavin Sheets and Tatis lined an RBI single to right to score Bogaerts.
The Rockies responded in the third with four runs. Willi Castro led off with his 11th homer of the year to right-center and Jake McCarthy poked an RBI single to left. Mickey Moniak followed with a two-run blast over the right field wall, his 17th.
San Diego pulled a run back in the fifth on Manny Machado’s single to right-center that scored Tatis, then tied the game in the sixth when Tatis laced an RBI single to left.
Colorado tallied twice in its half of the seventh via run-scoring doubles from Ezequiel Tovar and Moniak but the Padres responded with two runs in their half of the inning. Merrill stroked an RBI single and Freddy Fermin’s grounder to third was booted by Castro for an error that scored the tying run.
Tovar’s bases-loaded walk in the top of the eighth gave the Rockies a 7-6 edge. But San Diego equalized in its half of the eighth when Machado singled to right-center and McCarthy bobbled the ball, allowing Jake Cronenworth to score from first.
Padres manager Craig Stammen and infield coach Ryan Goins were ejected in the bottom of the fourth by plate umpire Jeremie Rehak.
–Field Level Media
