Rockies: Home runs from Desmond, Blackmon and LeMahieu fuel Colorado’s 7-4 win at San Diego.
SAN DIEGO» This SoCal port of Cali bills itself as “America’s Finest City.” For Ian Desmond, it’s a hitter’s paradise.
The first baseman, intent on putting his injury-marred 2017 season behind him, busted out at Petco Park on Monday night, leading the Rockies to a 7-4 victory over the Padres.
Right-hander Chad Bettis overcame a rocky start to pitch five innings and notch the victory as Colorado evened its record to 2-2. Colorado’s bullpen continued doing the job it’s being paid big money to do by nearly blanking San Diego for four innings until Chris Rusin gave up a solo homer to Cory Spegenberg and an RBI triple to Jose Pirela in the ninth.
Right-hander Adam Ottavino pitched a perfect sixth with two strikeouts, and has now whiffed eight batters in three innings, allowing no hits and walking only one.
Desmond batted 2-for-5 with a walk, belting an RBI double in the third inning and following that up with a two-run homer to center in the fifth to put Colorado in control. The homer, Desmond’s third of the season, traveled 399 feet — quite a blow considering San Diego’s heavy blanket of night air.
Counting last season, Desmond is batting .354 (17-for-48) with five home runs and 13 RBIs in 11 games at Petco wearing a Rockies uniform. For an added touch, Desmond snagged a foul ball in the seventh inning, leaping against the netting to make the catch.
Leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon has picked up right where he left off last season when he won the National League batting title and emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate. He opened Monday’s game with a double, moved to third on DJ LeMahieu’s single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nolan Arenado. Blackmon led off the ninth with a solo home run, his fourth of the season, followed by LeMahieu’s longball during the ensuing at-bat.
In the second, Blackmon made a glove save at the center-field wall worthy of Penguins goalie Matt Murray. With the bases full, Rockies nemesis Wil Myers blasted a ball off Bettis that looked like a possible grand slam, or at least a threerun double, but Blackmon made a leaping catch to end the inning.
The Rockies took a 3-1 lead in the third on back-to-back RBI doubles by Carlos Gonzalez and Desmond. Gonzalez’s hit was his 1,206th in a Rockies uniform, tying him with Vinny Castilla for fourth place in franchise history. He then passed Castilla in the seventh inning with an infield hit. Now in Gonzalez’s sights: Dante Bichette, who’s third on the list with 1,278 hits.
Bettis walked four and appeared to be in trouble in the third when he gave up a double to Eric Hosmer, who trotted home on Carlos Asuage’s double. But Bettis then settled down and mostly silenced the Padres in the fourth and fifth. Bettis gave up two runs on four hits, including a solo homer to Myers in the first inning.