Rockies at Padres
The San Diego Padres may be in the midst of a ninth straight losing season but there appears to be hope for the near future in the form of their crop of rookies. Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres seek their third consecutive win when they host the Colorado Rockies on Saturday for the third contest of their four-game series.
Tatis has been instrumental in San Diego's first two victories in the series, going 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs in the opener before opening the scoring in Friday's 7-1 triumph with a two-run double. The 22-year-old Dominican had his three-game homer streak snapped but is riding a 13-game hitting streak and has recorded an RBI in five straight contests - a stretch during which he has driven in two runs on three occasions. Fellow rookies Luis Urias and Josh Naylor also have contributed in the series, with the former going 3-for-7 with an RBI and five runs over the first two games and the latter belting a pinch-hit, three-run homer Friday. Charlie Blackmon stretched his hitting streak to eight games by notching two of the six hits registered by the Rockies, who have been outscored 41-13 while losing the first four contests of their six-game road trip.
TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1; AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-4, 5.95 ERA) vs. Padres RH Chris Paddack (7-5, 3.19)
Gonzalez remains in search of his first victory since his 2015 rookie season with Texas as he makes his fifth start as a member of the Rockies. The 27-year-old Floridian is coming off a relief appearance at Houston on Tuesday in which he took the loss after permitting two runs on one hit and one walk without retiring a batter. Gonzalez, who hadn't pitched in the majors since 2016 with the Rangers, has never faced San Diego.
Paddack escaped Los Angeles with a no-decision Sunday after being tagged by the Dodgers for six runs and six hits in four innings. The outing took place after the 23-year-old rookie from Texas had allowed a total of five runs over 23 2/3 frames in four turns last month. Paddack, who will be facing Colorado for the first time, has posted a 2.28 ERA at home as opposed to a 3.95 mark on the road.
WALK-OFFS
1. Padres C Francisco Mejia has registered four straight multi-hit performances, going 10-for-16 during the streak.
2. Blackmon is three hits away from 1,200 for his career.
3. San Diego placed LHP Jose Castillo (finger) on the 10-day injured list and recalled RHP Gerardo Reyes, who gave up one run while recording two outs Friday, from Triple-A El Paso.