Rockies' collapse to Padres belies home hot stretch

The Colorado Rockies usually thrive at home, but the run they were on recently was special. Then there was Friday night.

Since dropping three of four at Coors Field in early May, the Rockies were nothing short of dominant there. They entered Friday night having won 12 of 14 in Denver, and they led by six runs after eight innings, only to see San Diego rally to tie it in the ninth and win it 16-12 in 12 innings.

It was just the Rockies' fourth home loss since May 8, and two have come against the Padres.

"We're playing great at home right now, and we need to keep it going," said starter Jon Gray, who got the win in the first game of the series on Thursday night. "We're not going to climb back in it in a day or two, but if we keep playing like this, we'll make it back in (the divisional picture)."

Colorado begins play Saturday in a virtual tie for second place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks but still 10 1/2 game behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Rockies will look for a bounce-back game Saturday.

When Colorado was early in its stretch of home dominance, Saturday's scheduled starter defeated the Padres on May 10. German Marquez (6-3, 4.19 ERA) allowed just two runs in 5 2/3 innings despite giving up 10 hits in the 12-2 victory.

San Diego left-hander Eric Lauer (5-5, 4.14 ERA), who will make his club-leading 14th start of the season, was the Padres' starter on May 10 and took the loss.

Lauer, in just his second season in the majors, doesn't have fond memories of Coors Field. He has made two starts in Coors Field, and he lasted just three-plus innings each time. He allowed eight runs in three-plus innings on May 10 and seven runs (six earned) in his one start at Denver in 2018.

Overall against Colorado, he is 0-2 with an 11.45 ERA in three starts.

The stats for Marquez are much different when he faces the Padres in Colorado. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA in three career starts against them in Denver, and he's 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA in nine overall appearances in his career against San Diego. Two of those appearances were in relief.

Marquez is coming off two tough outings, both against the Chicago Cubs. He allowed eight runs in 5 1/3 against them on June 5, then four runs in six innings on Monday.

The Padres scuffled over the past week, having lost five in a row before the come-from-behind win Friday. With the trade deadline approaching in six weeks, they may be sellers if things don't turn around.

Reliever Kirby Yates could be coveted, but the right-hander said he would prefer to stay in San Diego.

"I don't want to go anywhere else. I want to win here," Yates, who is 0-2 with a 1.24 ERA this year, told MLB.com. "I've built a lot of strong relationships here with staff members and my teammates. My family likes it here, my wife likes it here, and the way the Padres organization has treated me and my family has been awesome."

--Field Level Media

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