DENVER (AP) — Ryan McMahon homered, tripled and drove in four runs as the Colorado Rockies rallied from an early deficit to beat the skidding San Diego Padres 8-4 Tuesday night.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his NL-leading 20th home run of the season for San Diego, which has lost 11 of 15.
McMahon went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and Yonathan Daza had three hits. Raimel Tapia doubled twice and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Adjustments in his swing and the length of the bat that he used have made a difference for McMahon. He downsized his bat slightly, from 34 inches in length to 33.75 inches this year and also has been choking up, especially with two strikes, to cut down on strikeouts and quicken his swing, which has become more explosive.
“Mac realized if he can cut his strikeouts down and put the ball in play, he’s got a swing that can generate some power,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “I think you saw that tonight.”
Said McMahon: “I’ve been choking up a little bit. When you shorten up and take that good short swing to the ball, it’s going to pay off more often than not.”
It was 4-all when Garrett Hampson, pinch-hitting for reliever Carlos Estévez (1-0), tripled off Tim Hill (3-3) in the seventh. Tapia followed with a double, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, and scored on a sacrifice fly by McMahon.
The Padres gave starter Yu Darvish a 4-0 lead after two innings, but he couldn’t hold it. He allowed four runs and five hits in five-plus innings.
Colorado closed to 4-2 in the fourth when Trevor Story doubled, McMahon tripled and Brendan Rodgers singled.
Colorado tied it in the sixth as Story opened the inning with a walk and McMahon connected for his 16th home run of the season, chasing Darvish.
Chi Chi Gonzalez, who allowed three home runs during Colorado’s 11-4 loss at Miami last time out, surrendered a two-out double to Manny Machado, followed by Tatis’ first-pitch drive 431 feet into the Rockies bullpen behind the center field fence.
San Diego added two more runs in the second after Jake Croneworth singled and Jurickson Profar doubled, snapping an 0-for-21 slump. Victor Caratini had an RBI groundout and Darvish followed with a single to drive in his first run of the season.
Gonzalez rebounded from a shaky start to go six innings, allowing four runs on six hits. “The first couple of innings, I thought we squared the ball up really well, did some damage got some runs up,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “Then Chi Chi settled in and we got a little bit cold, so we just weren’t able to add on.”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHS
The game-time temperature at Coors Field was 98 degrees for the second straight evening. It’s the first time that the Rockies had consecutive game-time temperatures of at least 98 degrees. They’re the second highest game-time temperatures at home in the team’s history, behind a 100-degree game on June 25, 2012 versus Washington.
TWO BY TWO
All the runs scored in pairs. Colorado had four two-run innings, the Padres had a pair of two-run frames. KEEPING THE FAITH “You have to embrace, in this game, the struggles and the challenges in it,” Tingler said. “If you don’t do it, this game will eat you alive. So we’re going to continue to be upbeat. We’re going to continue to be energetic. We’re going to continue to play baseball and this thing is going to turn. “
UP NEXT
LHP Blake Snell (2-3, 4.97 ERA) is set to start Wednesday’s series finale for the Padres against Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (0-2, 9.00), who is making his fifth start since being reinstated May 25 from the injured list. Freeland has not gone beyond the fifth inning in any of his previous starts this season.
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