Padres vs. Rockies: Musgrove rocked the Rockies

The San Diego Padres have played three games in a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies.

During this home series, the Padres have won two out of the three games played. The first game was played on Friday, which the Padres won 9-0. 

Joe Musgrove continued to make his case for the NL Cy Young Award in this game. Musgrove pitched in six strong innings, and he threw eight strikeouts while only giving up four hits. His ERA dropped to 1.50 after his quality start. Eight out of the nine hitters in the lineup got at least one hit. 

The only batter to not record a hit in the game was Eric Hosmer. Unfortunately, Hosmer has been slowing down since his hot start to the season. However, he is hitting at a respectable .289 batting average on the season.

Jake Cronenworth continued his hot stretch reminiscent of his all-star production from last season. Cronenworth hit a double and had three RBIs in this game. Manny Machado hit his 10th home run of the season, which leads the team by three home runs.

The second game of the series was the first game of a Saturday doubleheader.

This game did not have the offensive firepower that the previous game had. However, the Padres were able to get a 2-1 victory in extra innings. The Padres got the win despite only getting three hits compared to the Rockies’ eight hits. 

Manny Machado came in to score in the bottom of the 10th inning due to a throwing error from the catcher. Machado was running to third base from second after a wild pitch. This resulted in an errant throw from catcher Elias Diaz, which allowed Machado to score the game-winning run.

Starting pitcher Nick Martinez was dominant in 5 ⅔ innings pitched. Martinez gave up only one run while throwing nine strikeouts. His ERA is now 3.74 on the season thus far. 

The next game was the second game of the Saturday doubleheader. Unfortunately, this game did not have the same result as the first game in the doubleheader. Starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore had an unusually rough outing in this game. Gore was only able to pitch in 2 ⅓ innings and gave up six runs. This outing brought his ERA up to 2.50, which is still a solid ERA, however. 

A solid effort from the bullpen was not enough for the Padres to recover from the runs given up by Gore. The team was only able to score two runs on four hits, and ended up losing 6-2. 

The fourth and final game of the series will be played on Sunday.

Pitcher Blake Snell is scheduled to pitch in this one. Snell struggled in his previous outing, giving up four earned runs in four innings pitched against the New York Mets. The Padres will look to win the series with a win in this game. 

The starting pitching rotation the Padres have been utilizing has been solid this season. However, there are questions about the future that are arising. Musgrove, Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger are approaching free agency. 

The only pitchers under the club’s control for next year are Yu Darvish, MacKenzie Gore and Blake Snell. The decision on Musgrove will likely be the most important one for the Padres. The Padres have apparently moved closer to Musgrove’s contractual wishes.