Brenton Doyle stole the show.
The Rockies’ Gold Glove center fielder upstaged lefty Austin Gomber’s seven-inning gem and Brendan Rodgers and Kris Bryant’s big nights at the plate in a 5-2 win over the Padres on Friday night at Petco Park.
Doyle went “Air Jordan” to rob former Rockie Jurickson Profar of a home run in the eighth inning. Running at full speed, he leaped, reached over the wall and calmly snagged the ball. Reliever Tyler Kinley uttered, “Wow!” after Doyle’s magic act.
“I feel like I’ve made a lot of cool plays out there and that one felt really cool to me,” Doyle told Rockies.TV. “It seems like I take one away from my former teammate, Profar, every time we come here. But that one was super cool.”
Was that the best catch of his career?
“It’s up there,” he said. “It’s pretty cool because Adam Jones was a player I really looked up to growing up. And in the World Baseball Classic, he robbed a home run kind of in the exact, same spot.”
The victory was Colorado’s fifth straight over the Padres, who came into the game riding a 9-1 hot streak. The Rockies swept three games from the Padres at Petco from May 13-15.
Gomber handcuffed the Padres, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking only one. He pounded the strike zone and got 10 outs via groundballs. Of his 27 first pitches, 23 were strikes, an 85.2 first-pitch strike percentage that ranks as the fourth-highest in franchise history (minimum 25 batters faced).
“Austin threw great, he was outstanding,” manager Bud Black told reporters in San Diego. “They have been on a nice streak and ‘Gomby’ held them down.”
San Diego’s two runs came on solo homers. Manny Machado led off the second with a homer to left-center, and Donovan Solano led off the fourth with a homer to almost the same spot.
Rodgers hit 3 for 4, leading off the second with his eighth homer of the season and adding a double in the fourth. Bryant powered Colorado’s three-run sixth inning, lining a bases-loaded double to center.
“That was big for KB,” Black said. “We’ve got to get him going. KB wants to be a big part of this and a night like tonight can give him a little bit of jump start as we go through these next two months.
“It’s been frustrating for KB, no doubt about it. But anytime you get a couple of hits, and knock in a couple of runs, you feel good about it. He wants to contribute and he wants to contribute in a big way.”
Marquez update. Right-hander German Marquez’s return from Tommy John surgery hit a snap after he made one start and then went on the injured list with elbow soreness on July 22 (retroactive to July 19).
On Thursday, Marquez threw his second bullpen session (34 pitches). He’s scheduled to throw another bullpen session this weekend. After that, he could go on a short rehab assignment or return to the rotation.
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