After the Colorado Rockies secured a 9-3 victory behind a multi-homer game from a rookie on Tuesday, the San Diego Padres returned the favor Wednesday night with a 9-3 victory powered by a multi-homer game from a rookie.
Adams battles his command
Making his fifth big-league start, Mason Adams seemed primed to build upon his excellent last start in Detroit. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a tough night on the mound as he struggled with his command and gave up hard contact to the Padres offense.
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It was immediately apparent in the first inning that Adams did not have his sharpest stuff for the evening. He hit Fernando Tatís Jr. with a pitch to lead off the game and then walked Dustin Harris. Manny Machado then grounded into a force out but hustled down the line to prevent a double play. Ty France hit a sacrifice fly to score a run to put the Padres up 1-0. Jackson Merrill then collected his first hit of the evening with a single and was followed by another walk, this time to Xander Bogaerts. With the bases loaded, Jake Cronenworth singled up the middle to score another run to make it 2-0. By the time Adams got out of the first inning, he had thrown 32 pitches, working from behind with nearly every batter.
“The command just wasn’t there today,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I think it was obvious with all of his pitches, specifically in the first inning. I thought he made an adjustment to get back in the zone after that, but overall the command wasn’t where it needs to be, not where he’d like it.”
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Leading off the second inning, Adams surrendered the first-career home run to Ethan Salas to make it 3-1 Padres. He later gave up a two-out single to Machado. He managed to secure a 1-2-3 third inning but again ran into trouble in the fourth. Samad Taylor led off with a single and stole second base, coming in to score on a two-out triple by Harris to make it 4-1 Padres.
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Adams’ night would come to a close after allowing a one-out single to Merrill in the fifth, followed by a walk to Bogaerts. Unfortunately, when Nick Frasso came in relief, he allowed those two runs to score on a two-run single by Taylor.
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Adams went 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with three walks. He threw 84 pitches, with just 54 going for strikes. Most notably, he only had one swing-and-miss on the night, which was his lone strikeout.
“The one thing Mason does well is think, always,” said Schaeffer. “Even when things are going wrong, he thinks well and diagnoses well mid-inning and between innings.”
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Trouble with the lefty
Much like Adams, Padres starter Robbie Ray didn’t necessarily look good in the first inning. He walked Jake McCarthy to start things off. McCarthy then stole second base, his 30th bag of the season. It was a historic stolen base because it made him the first Rockies player in franchise history to have 15 home runs, 30 doubles, 10 triples, and 30 stolen bases in a single season.
Ray then hit Connor Norby with a pitch, followed by a flyout from Cole Carrigg that allowed the runners to move up. Kyle Karros then drew a walk to load the bases. Adael Amador grounded into a force out that allowed McCarthy to score to make it 2-1 before Troy Johnston struck out to end the inning.
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However, Ray was able to settle back in while Adams struggled. He allowed a two-out single to Ezequiel Tovar in the bottom of the second inning and then proceeded to retire the next 10 consecutive batters he faced through the fifth inning.
The Rockies finally cracked through in the sixth inning when Norby led off with a double to center field. Then, with one out, Karros belted his 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field to make it a 9-3 ballgame. Unfortunately, that’s all that the Rockies could muster against Ray.
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His night ended after six innings, having allowed just three runs on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Ray threw 88 pitches, 55 for strikes, while recording five groundouts. He generated five swings-and-misses on the night as the Rockies really struggled against his slider.
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Bullpen effort
After Frasso allowed the two-run single to Taylor in the fifth, he then gave up two runs of his own on a two-run home run by Salas. That second home run by Salas was notable because it made him the youngest catcher in MLB history to have a multi-homer game. In the sixth inning, he then gave up an RBI double to France to bring in San Diego.
The Rockies did get some reprieve for the bullpen thanks to Jimmy Herget. After allowing a leadoff single to Cronenworth in the top of the seventh, Herget proceeded to retire the next six batters, allowing just one hit on 22 pitches. Juan Mejia then fired a clean ninth inning by striking out of the side.
Cold Rockies offense
The Rockies managed just four hits while they struck out nine times against four walks. Two of those walks came with two outs in the ninth inning against Yuki Matsui. The two extra-base hits came in the sixth inning, and they went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
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Meanwhile, the Padres collected 13 hits and struck out seven times with just three walks. However, they had five players with at least two hits and had five extra-base hits while going 4-for-12 with RISP.
The flip-flop of the offense from the previous night for both teams is an interesting development, but the Rockies were overly aggressive against Ray while the Padres were patient against Adams. That difference is what allowed San Diego to punish mistakes and the Rockies to struggle to string hits together.
Up next
The Rockies and Padres will close out the series with a Thursday afternoon affair! Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.55 ERA) will take the ball for Colorado and face off against Michael King (11-9, 3.03 ERA) for the Padres.
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First pitch is at 1:10 pm MDT; see you then!
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