Padres vs. Rockies recap: Has the curse ended?

The San Diego Padres won two games in a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. The Padres came into the series with a record of 83-67. San Diego is still fighting for their playoff lives. Meanwhile, the Rockies came into the series with a record of 64-86. They have already been eliminated from playoff contention, so they did not have much to play for in this series.

The Padres seem to be cursed whenever they play at Coors Field. San Diego had lost 13 of their previous 14 games against the Rockies at Coors Field. In this series, the Padres lost the first game, but they took the final two games to get the series victory.

The first game of the series had a heartbreaking finish for San Diego. Right fielder Juan Soto has been in a slump as of late, but he went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs in this contest. Third baseman Manny Machado drove in the only other Padres’ run. 

Starting pitcher Sean Manaea struggled in the third and fourth innings. He finished the outing with three ⅔ innings pitched, and he gave up three runs on six hits. He also gave up three walks and only struck out two hitters. The bullpen was great in relief of Manaea. None of the relievers allowed a run to score until the bottom of the tenth inning in extra innings. It was a walkoff run that handed the Padres the tough loss. The Padres lost this game with a score of 4-3.

San Diego bounced back quite well in the second game of the series. A few hot bats helped the Padres get plenty of runs, especially in the top of the seventh inning when they scored six runs. Machado went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, second baseman Jake Cronenworth went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim recorded two RBIs.

Starting pitcher Yu Darvish continued his elite season. Darvish has easily been the Padres’ most reliable starting pitcher this season. He pitched in six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk. He also struck out eight Colorado batters during his outing. The Padres would go on to win this game with a score of 9-3.

It would be hard for any team to have a better or even similar offensive performance the very next game. However, San Diego had an even bigger offensive explosion in the third and final game of the series. Machado, Cronenworth and first baseman Wil Myers each had three RBIs in this contest. Home runs were hit by Machado, Myers and designated hitter Brandon Drury.

Starting pitcher Mike Clevinger was not great in this game, but the bullpen was solid in the final five innings of the game. The Padres won this game with a score of 13-6.

San Diego now has a record of 85-68 on the season. The Padres maintain a 1.5 game lead ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The team is also three games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that is also still alive in the NL Wild Card race. If the season ended now, the Padres would head to Atlanta to face the Atlanta Braves in a three-game Wild Card series. Atlanta projects to be the first NL Wild Card team, which would be the fourth seed. San Diego projects to be the fifth seed.

For their next series, the Padres will head back home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers one last time during the regular season.