Colorado Rockies Lose Home Opener to Padres, 13-6

The Colorado Rockies (2-2) lost their home opener 13-6 against the San Diego Padres (1-3) at Coors Field this afternoon in front of a packed house of 49,360 fans.

On a gorgeous afternoon in Denver, Jordan Lyles (0-0) returned to the Rockies rotation after a season ending toe injury last year, to face the Padres Colin Rea (0-0). Each starter struggled out of the gate as both teams had the bases loaded but, were unable to capitalize until Colorado broke the ice in the second inning.

Colin Rea started off the bottom of the second by issuing his fourth walk of the game to put Nick Hundley on base. Hundley moved to third off a DJ LeMahieu single while Trevor Story continued his torrent pace, with an RBI single to right that gave the Colorado Rockies an early lead. Carlos Gonzalez finished off the inning by knocking a two-out double to put Colorado ahead 2-0.

More from Rox Pile

• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco

After failing to score in the third inning San Diego set the record for most consecutive scoreless innings to begin a season with 29. The Padres finally broke their scoreless inning streak at 30 when Jon Jay singled to drive in Melvin Upton. Corey Spangenberg followed that up with an RBI triple to give the Padres the lead. Matt Kemp singled to made it 4-2 and Jordan Lyles was pulled after one out in the third inning. Chris Rusin came out of the bullpen in relief and promptly gave up a two run double that put San Diego ahead 6-2.

DJ LeMahieu lead off the bottom of the fourth with a double and scored off a Charlie Blackmon RBI single.  Trevor Story launching a two run blast that traveled an estimated 411 feet to cut San Diego’s lead to one run.  Story has now homered six times in his first four games played in the majors. Colin Ray was pulled quickly after the home run matching Lyles 3.1 innings pitched.

Colorado’s comeback was quickly halted in the fifth inning after Matt Kemp drove a three run blast off of right-handed reliever Justin Miller.  Miller, who was summoned to face Kemp, stayed in to pitch the fifth inning.  After giving up a double to Derek Norris, Melvin Upton hit a two run shot that increased the Padres lead 11-5.  The Padres added on two more runs in the ninth inning after Yangervis Solarte hit a double to score Travis Jankowski to make it 13-5. Trevor Story hit yet another home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Rockies an extra run. San Diego ends up taking the first game of the series 13-6.

On Tap: Former Colorado Rockies pitcher Drew Pomeranz (0-0) is back at Coors Field pitching against Jorge De La Rosa tomorrow at 6:10pm MDT. De La Rosa is hoping for a better outing than the season opener in Arizona on Monday where he lasted 4.2 innings.

Next: Colorado Rockies: 3 Things We Didn't Like Against Arizona

Rockies starting pitching needs to last at least six innings per game if the bullpen is to stay healthy and effective. Drew Pomeranz is back in the NL West with the Padres seeking a win against his former team after pitching in Oakland the last two seasons.

Tomorrow’s Game Forecast: 67 degrees and mostly clear.