Mickey Moniak has career day but slumping Rockies lose to Padres

Mickey Moniak had visions of the Rockies playing spoiler — not doormats — in the National League West race.

The outfielder almost made his dream come true on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park, hitting two home runs, going 4 for 4, driving in five runs, and stealing two bases. But it wasn’t quite enough. The Padres won 9-6 and took three of four games in the series.

The Rockies finished their West Coast road trip 1-6, having been swept by the Dodgers in three games in Los Angeles. The Dodgers (83-65) lead the Padres (82-68) by two games in the division.

“We have talked about the opportunity almost to feel what it’s like to be in the playoff hunt,” Moniak said last week. “We have a chance to play spoiler.”

“And having such a young clubhouse, it would be a good experience for everybody to, A, run the gauntlet of those teams that are going to be in the playoffs and see how we stack up. And, B, finish the month off strong as we head into the offseason.”

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But the truth is, the Rockies (41-109) are tripping toward the finish line. They’ve lost 15 of their last 18 games and have been outscored by an astronomical 397 runs this season.

The Padres pummelled starter German Marquez to take a 7-0 lead after three innings. But behind Moniak’s big day, Colorado closed the gap to 7-6 by the seventh inning.

“I was a great day by ‘Mick,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters in San Diego. “There’s a been a lot of great days for ‘Mick’ this year. He’s a really good baseball player.

“He got us — not single-handedly, but pretty close — back into that ballgame. He carried the load today. A fantastic day for him, especially in front of his hometown crowd.”

Schaeffer was ejected in the eighth inning by home plate umpire James Jean for arguing balls and strikes. It was Schaeffer’s second ejection of the season.

Moniak hit a solo home run off Yu Darvish in the fourth and a three-run blast off Jeremiah Estrada in the sixth. Colorado scored twice in the seventh, combining a leadoff single by Braxton Fulford, a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Ritter, an RBI double by Ezequiel Tovar, and an RBI single by Moniak.

But the Padres didn’t blink and put the game away in the eighth, scoring twice against the usually reliable right-handed reliever Jimmy Herget. Mason McCoy led off with a double, Fernando Tatis Jr. singled and stole second, and Gavin Sheets drove them in with a ground-rule double to right-center.

“Jimmy Herget has been our guy all year, and he almost wiggled himself out of that inning with two punchouts … but he just got beat today,” Schaeffer said.