Padres seek to avoid stumbling vs. Rockies again

Back in May, the San Diego Padres welcomed the Colorado Rockies to town after taking a weekend series from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Seemingly ready to get on a roll, San Diego instead lost all three games.

On Friday night, the Padres will host the Rockies again, this time after sweeping a two-game set from Los Angeles that brought them within 4 1/2 games of the National League West-leading Dodgers.

Can the Padres continue their recent run — nine wins in 10 games — or will they stumble over a second-division team again?

“Every game we’re playing right now is extremely important,” said San Diego pitcher Dylan Cease, who has won his past four starts and allowed just one run in his past 27 2/3 innings. “We need to continue to bring this focus and intensity to every game we’re playing.”

That means beating bad teams as well as good teams. San Diego has won four straight series, three of them against first-place clubs (the Cleveland Guardians, the Baltimore Orioles and the Dodgers). To keep the momentum going, the Padres can’t take Colorado and its 40-70 record for granted.

“Our goals haven’t changed at any point during the season,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s been to win the division. We know it’s a tall order and a competitive division, so we’re just going about playing and taking care of our business.”

Randy Vasquez (3-6, 4.82 ERA) will take the ball for the Padres in the series opener, hoping to bounce back from a rocky start in an 8-6 loss at Baltimore on Sunday. Vasquez lasted only two-plus innings, allowing six runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

The right-hander has faced the Rockies twice in his career, both times this season, and he is 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA against them.

On April 25 in Denver, Vasquez came away with a no-decision despite pitching only 2 2/3 innings and yielding four runs. In San Diego on May 13, the Rockies got him for five runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings as Colorado won 5-4.

While San Diego aspires to keep playing into October, Colorado has 52 games of string left to play out. The Rockies are 2-5 on a 10-game West Coast trip after rallying Thursday night for a 5-4 win in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.

Jake Cave forced extra innings with a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the ninth, and a throwing error on Sam Hilliard’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the 10th brought in the winning run.

Left-hander Austin Gomber (2-7, 4.79 ERA) will make his third start of the year against the Padres, and he did well in the first two.

Gomber gave up only one run over five innings in a no-decision on April 22, and then pitched six scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits, in an 8-0 victory on May 15.

Most recently, the host San Francisco Giants got to Gomber for three runs and six hits and a walk in 3 2/3 innings on Sunday. He struck out six and left after throwing 85 pitches in a game the Giants won 5-4.

Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle were both hot before each went 0-for-5 on Thursday.

Tovar saw hit career-best 17-game hitting streak end. Doyle slugged 11 homers in July, tying the Oakland Athletics’ Brent Rooker for the most in the majors, but he fanned three times while going hitless to open August.

Colorado manager Bud Black said Doyle deserves to be the NL Player of the Month.

“It’s a great sign of stability and self-confidence,” Black said. “Know your talent is going to get you out of (a slump).”

–Field Level Media