Rockies pounded by Padres, lose for the 18th time in 22 games

Life returned to normal for the Rockies on Saturday in San Diego The night after one of their majority of stirring wins of their historically bad season the Rockies were hammered - by the Padres at Petco Park In their - win over the Padres on Friday night Colorado got a brilliant start from Tanner Gordon and timely hits On Saturday night the Rockies got neither and their record slid to - A check of the Rockies misery index shows that they have lost of their last games and their run differential is minus- The Rockies have blown past the modern-era record of minus- set by the Boston Red Sox Rockies right-hander Bradley Blalock called up from Triple-A Albuquerque to start in place of Chase Dollander who went on the injured list was gone after three innings Pardon the pun but Blalock didn t have a prayer vs the Padres veteran hitters The first hint came in the first inning Blaylock gave up a one-out single to Luis Arrez and loaded the bases with back-to-back walks to Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets Ramon Laureano s sacrifice fly made it - The Padres made it - in the second on a one-out single by Jake Cronenworth and a two-run homer by Fernando Tatis Jr In the third solo homers by Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill put the Padres ahead - Blalock got ahead well it s just that with two strikes he had a tough time putting hitters away Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer disclosed It was good to see him get ahead but at the end you ve got to put guys away The pitch count rose because of that And a couple of pitches over the plate were hit for homers Blalock s line three innings five runs on five hits with two walks no strikeouts and three home runs surrendered He threw pitches for strikes Blalock s season - ERA homers and a average against in starts appearances Enter former starter Antonio Senzatela who s been demoted to the bullpen San Diego sent eight men to the plate against him in the fourth scoring four runs on four hits and a walk The key hits were a two-run single by Machado and a two-run double by Laureano Senzatela s season - ERA homers and a average against in games starts The Blalock-Senzatela combo illustrates just how shallow the Rockies pitching depth is right now Related Articles Rockies Journal Taking a swing at MLB expansion and realignment Tanner Gordon Triple-A call-up Blaine Crim end Rockies misery in San Diego For Rockies Chase Dollander season ends with home-road splits still a concern Hapless Rockies shut out for fourth straight time by Padres at Petco Park Dodgers Blake Snell dominates Rockies who sink to yet another new low in - loss The competition started on a high note for Colorado Tyler Freeman led off with a double and scored on Jordan Beck s RBI single It marked the first time since Aug against the Dodgers at Coors Field that Colorado scored in the first inning a drought of games After that however San Diego right-hander Dylan Cease shut down Colorado s offense for the next five innings Cease allowed one run on five hits struck out six and walked only one The Rockies scored two runs in the eighth on first baseman Blaine Crim s two-run double off reliever Bradgley Rodriguez Much too little and much too late for Colorado especially when Bryce Johnson hit a pinch-hit two-run homer off Angel Chivilli in the bottom of the frame Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis