SAN DIEGO — Opening night was a smash hit for the Rockies’ C.J. Cron, who launched two homers, went 4-for-5, racked up 11 total bases and drove in five runs in a historic starring role.
Charlie Blackmon, German Marquez and Elehuris Montero co-starred in Colorado’s 7-2 victory over the Padres on a chilly Friday at jam-packed Petco Park. The Rockies banged out 17 hits, more than any road game all of last season.
They also struck out 17 times, thus becoming the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to have at least 17 hits and strike out 17 times in a nine-inning game. Go figure.
“I just needed to get healthy,” said Cron, who missed 10 days during spring training because of back spasms. “Then I got three games worth of at-bats to get ready (for opening day). I had enough at-bats to feel confident.”
Manager Bud Black was not surprised by Cron’s performance. After all, the veteran first basemen led Colorado with 29 homers and 102 RBIs last season, even though a wrist injury slowed him down in the second half.
“He’s a veteran and he knows what he needs,” Black said. “We talked about it and we knew that if he could get in the last three games and get his at-bats, he’d be fine. I trust C.J. and I’ve known him for a long time.”
The big-money Padres are considered World Series contenders, and a fired-up crowd of 45,103 cheered on their heroes until the Rockies scored six unanswered runs to put the game away. Those cheers turned to jeers in the seventh when Cron and Montero hit back-to-back homers off Domino Tapia.
It marked just the third time in their 31 seasons that the Rockies went back-to-back on opening day and the first time against a team other than Arizona.
Cron’s three-run homer off Nabil Crismatt in the fifth turned San Diego’s 2-1 lead into a 4-2 Rockies lead. Cron, who also had an RBI single off lefty Blake Snell in the first inning, tied Blake Street Bomber Vinny Castilla for the most RBIs by a Rockies player on opening day in franchise history. Castilla drove in five on March 31, 1998, at Arizona.
Cron nearly drove in his sixth run in the eighth inning when he doubled, but Kris Bryant, trying to score from first, was thrown out at the plate. Colorado challenged the call, to no avail. Cron’s double, however, did give him 11 total bases — another Rockies opening-day record.
Marquez, who set a franchise mark by making his third opening-day start, survived a shaky first inning and pitched six innings of five-hit baseball. He allowed two runs — including a sacrifice fly by Manny Machado in the first — but didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. He escaped big trouble in the fourth when he induced an inning-ending groundball double play out of Austin Nola.
“My fastball command was great,” said Marquez, who knew he was facing perhaps the most talented lineup in the majors. “Believe me, it’s not easy. I was just doing my best to make my pitches.”
In his three opening-day starts, Marquez is 1-1 with a 2.30 ERA.
Black was especially pleased with how Marquez threw his slider.
“Once he got a great feel for the slider, that was the turning point,” Black said. “That helped his fastball. I thought the slider was outstanding and he had the good fastball velocity.”
As for Blackmon, Thursday’s game was his 10th career opening-day start, surpassing Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos González (both with nine) for the second-most behind Todd Helton’s 16. In his first nine starts, Blackmon was 3-for-38 (.078), but on Thursday he hit 3-for-5, including a double off Snell into the gap in right-center in the third.
Blackmon was perplexed about the Rockies’ strange 17/17 night at the plate.
“I was trying to figure out how we did that,” he said with a laugh.
The Rockies, whose road offense last season was abysmal, looked like they were going to follow the same disturbing pattern. In the fourth, Kris Bryant reached on an error by second baseman Ha-Seong Kim and advanced to third on Blackmon’s double. But the rally fizzled when Snell struck out Cron, Montero and Ryan McMahon in succession. In the spotless fourth, Snell struck out Harold Castro and Ezequiel Tover.
But the Rockies nicked Snell in the fifth with a leadoff single by Yonathan Daza and a bloop single to left by Blackmon. Snell got the hook and gave way to Crismatt, who served up a 1-2 changeup to Cron, who parked it over the left-field wall.
Pitching Matchup
Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (9-11, 4.53Â ERA in 2022) at Padres RHP Nick Martinez (4-4, 3.47)
7:40 p.m. (MDT) Friday, Petco Park
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
The Rockies are counting on Freeland to have a solid, consistent season. He had some strong starts last year but there were too many erratic performances. Of his 31 starts, 13 of them were quality, his most in a full season since his outstanding 2018 season when he posted a 2.85 ERA and made 24 quality starts. The lefty is 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) vs. the Padres, including a 3-4 record and 3.42 ERA at Petco Park.
While Freeland pitched in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, Martinez departed the tournament early because he was not guaranteed a start in the final two games. Martinez started Game 2 of pool play against Mexico and took the loss, allowing five hits and three runs with two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings in Team USA’s 11-5 defeat. Martinez pitched for Houston before joining San Diego last season. In eight appearances (three starts) against Colorado, he’s 0-0 with a 5.48 ERA.
• Saturday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (5-7, 5.56 in 2022) at Padres RHP Michael Wacha (11-2, 3.32), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
• Sunday: Rockies RHP Jose Urena (3-8, 5.01) at Padres RHP Seth Lugo (3-2, 3.60), 2:10 p.m., ATTRM
• Monday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (4-9, 5.83) at Dodgers TBD, 8:10 p.m., ATTRM
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