Richard, Padres dominate Rockies
SAN DIEGO -- Clayton Richard pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie second baseman Ryan Schimpf drove in four runs with a double and a homer Thursday as the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 14-1 in the opener of a four-game series at Petco Park.
Richard (2-3) allowed six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in his seventh appearance (fifth start) since signing with the Padres on Aug. 6. The left-hander, who also pitched for San Diego from 2009-13, lowered his ERA as a Padre to 1.15 for 31 1/3 innings.
Schimpf continued his torrid extra-base hitting since he made his major league debut with the Padres on June 14. He hit his 15th double and 18th homer Thursday night. After 214 at-bats, Schimpf has 50 hits, with 38 going for extra-bases.
Schimpf, Travis Jankowski, Yangervis Solarte and Alex Dickerson all had two hits for the Padres. Jankowski, Derek Norris and Luis Sardinas each drove in two runs. Dickerson scored four runs.
Norris, who closed out the Padres' scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth, scored three times. The homer was the catcher's first since July 10 and 13th of the year.
Rockies shortstop Cristhian Adames, whose two-out error led to seven unearned runs in the Padres' third, homered in the ninth to deny the Padres their most lop-sided shutout win in franchise history.
Schimpf's three-run homer capped the seven-run rally that broke up a scoreless tie.
Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman (0-3) should have been out of the third inning without allowing a run.
Hoffman walked Sardinas to open the third and personally tagged out Richard on a sacrifice bunt that allowed Sardinas to take second. Adames then fielded a grounder and threw out Jankowski.
Had Adames done the same thing on the ensuing grounder by Jon Jay, Hoffman would have been out of the inning with no damage. But Jay's grounder kicked off Adames' glove for an error that allowed Sardinas to score the game's first run.
More important, the error opened the flood gates. Jay was the first of seven straight Padres to reach base.
Wil Myers, Solarte and Dickerson followed with sharp singles -- the last two driving in runs to make it 3-0. Schimpf then hit the first pitch he saw 408 feet to make it 6-0.
Still, it wasn't over. Norris drew a walk, stole second and scored on Sardinas' single to make it 7-0.
Hoffman was mercifully removed from his fourth major league start, having allowed seven runs -- and no earned runs -- on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings.
The Padres added three more runs on just one single in the fifth. Rockies right-handed reliever German Marquez, who made his major league debut in relief of Hoffman, issued three straight walks to open the inning. Dickerson scored on a grounder to first by Richard. Schimpf and Norris scored on a two-out single by Jankowski.
The Padres made it an even dozen in the bottom of the sixth against right-handed reliever Matt Carasiti. Solarte doubled with one out, advanced to third on a single by Dickerson and scored on Schimpf's double halfway up the wall in right. Dickerson scored on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Sardinas.
NOTES: Padres RHP Jarred Cosart will miss at least one start after sustaining both a right hamstring and right groin strain Wednesday night when he landed awkwardly while covering first base on a grounder. The severity of the injuries won't be known for another three or four days. Cosart's injury could alter the Padres' plan to use a six-man rotation for the rest of the season. ... The Rockies activated RHP Jason Motte from the disabled list Thursday. Motte had been out since July 27 with a rotator cuff strain. The addition of Motte gives the Rockies a 37-man roster that includes 13 relief pitchers.