San Diego Padres continue to rebound
After suffering through a 10-game losing streak the San Diego Padres have turned their game around over the last two weeks and continue to hold-down first place in the National League
West division.
On Tuesday, the Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 7-6, and with the win the Padres now lead the San Francisco Giants by 1 ½ games. The Giants were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers
1-0. The Padres have now won six of their last nine games. The win also guaranteed the Padres their first winning season since 2007.
Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs hit a key two-run home run in the eighth inning and Nick Hundley drove in Miguel Tejada with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make the score 7-4, which proved to
be the winning run. It was the 22nd pinch-hit home run for Stairs, as he continues to expand on his major league record. The Rockies were able to score two runs in the home half of the ninth to make it a 7-6 game, but fell short in their comeback
effort. After winning 10 games in a row, the Rockies have now lost two consecutive games to the Padres and now sit 3 ½ games off the pace in the NL West.
Padres pitcher Jon Garland improved his record to 14-11, snapping a recent three-start skid. Garland held the Rockies to just four hits in over seven innings of work allowing three runs
– one earned - and striking out six.
Rockies Pitcher Jason Hammel dropped his record to 10-8 in the loss giving up 10 hits and four runs in just four innings of work.
Despite giving up two runs in the ninth, Heath Bell was able to secure the win picking up his 42nd save of the season and his 29th in a row. Bell tied a career-best
with his 42nd save, the same mark he achieved last season.
Todd Helton and Melvin Mora got the rally going in the ninth with back-to-back doubles to produce a run nad making the score 7-5. Jay Payton then later singled to bring in Mora to close
the gap to one. After Bell walked Jason Giambi to put the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first, Bell then got Eric Young Jr. to groundout to shortstop where Tejada stepped on second base and then threw to first for the game-ending double
play.
The Padres will look for a three-game sweep on Wednesday when the series wraps up.
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