Colorado Rockies history: Rocktober streak (part 7)

The third inning

In the third inning, with one out, Francis would help his own cause by recording the first Rockies hit on the afternoon. However, he would be forced out at second but the Rockies would get a much faster runner, Kazuo Matsui, on first base.

Troy Tulowitzki followed Matsui and on the first pitch of the at-bat, he lined a base hit to left field. So it would be two-on and one out for Todd Helton. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Helton laced a ball down the left-field line for an RBI double to make it 1-0 Rockies. However, Garrett Atkins would strand both Tulowitzki and Helton in scoring position as he flied to left-center field to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Padres would tie it back up as Milton Bradley drilled a solo home run into the center field stands so it was 1-1.

A troublesome fourth inning for Greg Maddux

On the first pitch in the top of the fourth inning, Brad Hawpe would single to right field. Three pitches later, Ryan Spilborghs would make it 2-1 Rockies on an RBI triple. Yorvit Torrealba followed Spilborghs and he would drive in the second run of the inning with a RBI single to right field. Torrealba would steal second base with Cory Sullivan at the plate (Torrealba only had 19 stolen bases in his entire MLB career from 2001-2013). On the next pitch, Sullivan would advance Torrealba to third base on a single to center field.