dailyloe.com – Xander Bogaerts hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 12th inning on Thursday night. His dramatic home run gave the San Diego Padres a 7-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies. The win snapped the Rockies’ four-game winning streak at Petco Park in San Diego.
Bogaerts connected on a 1-0 pitch from Rockies reliever Valente Bellozo. He sent the ball out to left field for his ninth career grand slam. It was also his second grand slam since joining the Padres organization.
The Padres set the stage in the 12th with a sacrifice bunt from Fernando Tatis Jr. That moved the automatic runner, Jake Cronenworth, to third base. Bellozo then intentionally walked both Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado to load the bases.
Reliever David Morgan earned the win for San Diego. He retired all five batters he faced after entering the game in the 11th inning. Morgan inherited a situation with two runners on and only one out.
The game was a back-and-forth affair through extra innings. Brett Sullivan’s RBI double gave Colorado a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th. Luis Campusano then tied it with a two-out double for the Padres.
Colorado initially took a 2-1 lead in the 10th on an RBI single from Tyler Freeman. Manny Machado answered with a sacrifice fly to tie the game again. The seesaw battle continued into the late innings.
Brenton Doyle hit his first home run of the season in the third inning. His solo shot to center field gave the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. Padres starter Randy Vásquez allowed that one run over 5.2 innings.
Vásquez struck out eight batters while scattering seven hits. His performance kept the Padres in the game through the middle innings. The bullpen then took over to finish the contest.
Padres closer Mason Miller struck out the side in the ninth inning. He needed only ten pitches to complete the perfect frame. Miller extended his scoreless innings streak to 27.2 innings dating back to last season.
Rockies outfielder Hunter Goodman exited the game in the sixth inning. He suffered a laceration on his right middle finger after being hit by a pitch. His status for upcoming games was not immediately known.
Jake Cronenworth made a critical defensive play in the top of the 12th. He threw out Willi Castro at home plate on a ground ball. That prevented the Rockies from taking the lead before Bogaerts’ heroics.
The victory improved the Padres’ early season record to 7-6. The Rockies fell to 6-7 with the tough extra-innings loss. Both teams continue their National League West division schedules this weekend.[]
Source: ESPN
