Padres 10, Rockies 4
DENVER -- The San Diego Padres belted four home runs off Colorado starter Kyle Kendrick and scored in each of the first six innings as they pounded the Rockies 10-4 on Sunday.
The Padres joined the Orioles (June 16) as the only team to score in the first six innings of a game this season. It was the third time in franchise history the Padres have accomplished that feat. They also did it Aug. 15, 1986, at Cincinnati and July 25, 1990, against the Reds.
The win enabled the Padres to avoid being swept in a three-game series and sent them home after a 3-6 road trip. The Padres went 12-7 against the Rockies this season, winning 12 games against an opponent for the first time since they went 12-7 against the Diamondbacks in 2013.
The Padres, who built a 10-1 lead in the sixth, had never beaten the Rockies 12 times in a single season.
The Padres teed off on Kendrick (6-13), who gave up a career-high four home runs in four innings, bringing his total for the season to a major-league-leading 32 in 131 1/3 innings. Kendrick, who was on the disabled list the entire month of August with right shoulder inflammation, yielded six runs in his brief start, raising his ERA to 6.37.
By contrast, Padres starter James Shields (13-6) was masterful. After giving up a leadoff homer to center fielder Charlie Blackmon in the first, Shields retired 19 of the next 21 batters he faced and 11 in succession before allowing his second and final hit, a double by first baseman Justin Morneau with one out in the seventh.
Morneau scored on a wild pitch by Shields, who worked 6 2/3 innings and won his third straight start and fifth in his past seven outings. He was charged with four runs, the result of pinch hitter Ben Paulsen's two-run single off Bud Norris.
Kendrick had yielded three homers in a game seven times, including twice this season, before making dubious history against the Padres. Third baseman Yangervis Solarte hit a two-run homer in the first, his 13th of the season, following a walk. Right fielder Matt Kemp (23rd of the season) and shortstop Jedd Gyorko (16th) homered in the third, and second baseman Cory Spangenberg (third) led off the fourth with a homer.
Center fielder Travis Jankowski singled home a run with two outs in the second against Kendrick, who gave way to David Hale in the fifth. He allowed four straight one-out hits in that inning and gave up two runs on a double by left fielder Justin Upton and catcher Derek Norris' single.
Justin Upton made it 10-1 with a two-run single off Hale with two out in the sixth.
NOTES: Padres RHP Shawn Kelley, who left a game Sept. 1 with a right forearm strain, threw a side session and will rejoin the San Diego bullpen Tuesday against the Giants. ...Padres RHPs Colin Rea and Brandon Maurer have not resumed throwing. Maurer (right shoulder inflammation) has been on the disabled list since Aug. 11 and is done for the season. Rea, who experienced forearm/elbow soreness the day after his last start on Sept. 8, likely won't return this season...Rockies LHP Yohan Flande, who left his start in the third inning Saturday night when he was hit with a line drive on his left knee, was sore on Sunday, but he was better than manager Walt Weiss expected. It will be a few days before the Rockies determine whether Flande can make his next scheduled start Friday against the Dodgers.