Manny Machado hits 31st homer, Padres beat Rockies, 13-6
By MICHAEL KELLY
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Manny Machado and Brandon Drury hit back-to-back home runs in a five-run eighth inning, Wil Myers also went deep, and the San Diego Padres beat Colorado 13-6 in the Rockies’ final home game of the season.
Jake Cronenworth tripled and drove in three runs and Juan Soto, Jurickson Profar and Luis Campusano had two hits each for the Padres. Robert Suárez (5-1) pitched one inning of relief for the win.
San Diego increased its lead over Philadelphia to 1 1/2-games for the second NL wild card and increased its lead on Milwaukee to three games. The Brewers lost 2-1 to Cincinnati on Sunday and trail the Phillies by two games for the final wild card.
“It’s crunch time,” Drury said. “Every game from here on out is a must win. We’re focused on what we have to do to win but we know what’s going on, too. As long as we take care of what we’ve got to take care of we trust we’re going to be where we want to be.”
Ryan McMahon homered, Elías Díaz had three hits and Sean Bouchard had two singles and three RBIs for Colorado.
The Rockies finished 41-40 at Coors Field and end the season on the road where they are 24-48.
The Padres scored three runs in the first inning and four more in the third on Cronenworth’s two-run triple and a 433-foot two-run homer by Myers that made it 7-1.
All seven runs were charged to Kyle Freeland (9-11), who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.
Colorado chipped away at the lead, getting a homer from McMahon leading off its half of the third, his 19th, two more on a single by Bouchard in the fourth and Charlie Blackmon’s RBI single in the fifth.
Machado’s homer, a three-run shot off Alex Colomé, gave him 31 for the season and 100 RBIs. It is the second straight year and third time he has driven in 100 runs or more.
“Obviously it’s a huge number,” Machado said. “Whenever you put up those numbers it’s a team thing. Us having this good year, just got to continue it. It’s always a good accomplishment.”
Drury followed with his 28th and Austin Nola had an RBI double later in the inning.
“It’s huge to score runs here because we certainly have the ability to,” manager Bob Melvin said. “To put up a five-spot a four-spot and a three-spot, we’ll take that anywhere. Kind of get that monkey off our back here and win a series and score some runs feels pretty good.”
HEAD COUNT
The announced attendance at Coors Field on Sunday was 40,508 to bring the Rockies’ 2022 total to 2,597,428 for the home schedule. Colorado drew 2,993,244 to the ballpark in 2019, which was the last season without COVID-19 restrictions.
NOT JUST A BIG BAT
Machado provided a defensive highlight in the bottom of the fourth to go with his big offensive day. With runners on first and second and one out, Ezequiel Tovar hit a sharp grounder down the line at third. Machado snagged it and fired sidearm to first in one motion to get the out.
“Game’s easy for him,” Drury said. “He’s so good that the game’s just a little bit easier for him than most people. That goes for hitting and defense. This is not an easy game.”
Machado attributed his defense to practice and understanding the situation.
“I’ve probably taken way more than a thousand ground balls since spring training,” he said. “Just having an internal clock and knowing who’s running. I didn’t have a play at second, I didn’t have a play at third, so as soon as I got the ball just make that throw over there and let Wil make a play.”
UP NEXT
Padres: LHP Blake Snell (8-9, 3.62) opens a three-game series at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday. Snell struck out 13 and no-hit St. Louis for 6 2/3 innings in his last start.
Rockies: RHP Germán Márquez (8-12, 5.15) faces RHP Logan Webb (14-9, 2.39) in the opener of a three-game series at San Francisco on Tuesday night.
