Rockies hit a new low with 21-0 L in series loss to Padres
Not even a win over the World Series-contending San Diego Padres could save Bud Black Sunday. After a torturous 21-0 shutout on Saturday and a 7-33 record, the Colorado Rockies nine-year manager was shown the door on Mother’s Day.
Colorado came into the series on a six game skid and fresh off a sweep courtesy of the Detroit Tigers where they lost by a combined 18 runs in a doubleheader. The Padres are an arguably better team, with a lot of Rockies fans coming in covering their eyes.
Game one
Coors Field packed 30,000 fans on Friday, May 9 –above average for a team that’s seen a substantial drop in attendance. Antonio Senzatela got his eighth start for the Rox and saw no help behind him, with only four of the eight runs the Padres got off him being earned. The defense finished with a sloppy three errors in the series opener.
The right-handed pitcher recorded his sixth loss and scaled his ERA to 5.77. Senzatela has been a product of pitching in Denver, with his ERA escalating to 7.65 at home.
The Rox went down early, but climbed back, trailing 12-2 after the sixth inning. Once San Diego went to the bullpen the offense rallied for five runs in the eighth and two in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough resulting in their 13-9 game one loss.
Catcher Hunter Goodman and outfielder Jordan Beck have developed into the Rockies best hitters so far, with Goodman notching his first three hit game of the year and Beck hitting his team-leading sixth homer on Friday.
More production came from third-baseman Ryan McMahon, who’s been on a tear since his franchise-record 34 consecutive at-bats without a hit last month. In the eight games he had played in May, he’s had an over .400 batting average with three home runs.
Game two
It had already been a hellish 38 games for Colorado, but game No. 39 set a new low. The Rockies lost 21-0 to the Padres – their eighth loss in a row – becoming the sixth team in the Modern Era to lose by 21 runs or more in a shutout.
Colorado has turned to 24-year-old Bradley Blalock to start games in wake of Ryan Feltner’s back injury. He made history on Saturday by allowing a franchise record-tying 12 earned runs. Blalock couldn’t finish the fourth inning, giving up three home runs in 13 hits through 3.2 innings.
To put salt in the wound, Blalock’s outing became just the sixth starting pitcher in MLB’s 124-year history to give up 12 runs in 3.2 innings or fewer. Even worse, one of the six games was Colorado’s Shawn Chacón in 2003.
The Rockies fell victim to a complete-game shutout from San Diego’s Stephen Kolek in just his second start of the season. Nine different Padres batters had two or more hits, with the final box score reading 24 knocks.
Game three
There was light at the end of the tunnel for Rockies fans in the series finale. Colorado captured a 9-3 win in game three to avoid the sweep. Germán Márquez threw a gem, shoving an efficient seven innings allowing only one run.
Over the series, Beck stretched his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games. Since returning from Triple-A on April 20, he’s hit six home runs with a .333 on-base percentage and .653 slugging percentage.
Just minutes after the win, the team announced that they relieved Manager Bud Black and Bench Coach Mike Redmond of their duties. Third Base Coach Warren Schaeffer has been designated as interim manager for the rest of the season.
Black spent nine years as the skipper for the Rox, collecting the most wins and most losses during his tenure. Schaeffer will begin his managing career on a road trip to Globe Life Field for a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. First pitch is Monday, May 12 at 6:05 p.m.