It’s kind of play that you dream about a kid, playing in your backyard — but for the Rockies, the Padres’ successful suicide-squeeze play in the ninth inning ended up as a nightmare.
With the game tied at three runs each, Rockies closer Greg Holland took to the hill, as manager Bud Black wanted to keep the score where it was so his offense could have a chance to win it in the final frame. Holland, who struggled with blown saves in August, didn’t have a chance to blow one in this situation, but he discovered a new and frustrating way to lose instead.
After starting the inning with a strikeout, Holland walked San Diego’s Matt Szczur and allowed an infield single to Allen Córdoba that advanced the speedy Szczur to third. Light-hitting catcher Austin Hedges then came to the plate as a pinch-hitter, and promptly laid down a sacrifice bunt that dribbled only halfway to the mound. Holland, recognizing the squeeze when Szczur broke for home, charged forward, scooped up the ball, and dove toward the plate. The athletic play saw Holland make the tag in time, but as his glove collided with Szczur, the ball came loose — and the Padres found themselves with a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth. Holland finished the frame cleanly, but the damage was done.
The Rockies’ Jekyll-and-Hyde offense was on display on Sunday; scoring only three runs one night after they overloaded the scoreboard with 16 on Saturday, and they offered no resistance to Padres closer Brad Hand, who retired Jonathan Lucroy, Ian Desmond and Charlie Blackmon in order to seal the victory — and deny the Rockies a sweep that they desperately needed.
With only a dozen games remaining in the Rockies’ season, they lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 2-1/2 games; the same margin they led by when the Padres arrived in Denver on Friday.
Starting pitcher Jon Gray was up to the task in the first five innings; striking out seven while walking only one and keeping the Padres scoreless, but a lengthy rain delay in the bottom of the fifth kept Bud Black from putting the young fireballer back into the game. The Rockies’ bullpen wasn’t up to the task, as relievers Chris Rusin, Pat Neshek and Jake McGee each allowed a run before Holland entered in the fateful ninth.
The silver lining to Sunday’s gray, rainy clouds was that the St. Louis Cardinals, who were red-hot coming into the weekend, were swept by the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, falling 4-1/2 games behind the Rockies for the final wild-card spot.
Colorado now heads back on the road after their stop-off in Denver; facing the Giants on Tuesday in an abbreviated, two-game set. After that? Four against the Padres in sunny San Diego, where Gray will have his chance for revenge on Friday, where he’ll undoubtedly be hoping for a cloud-free outing under the Southern California sky.