Reyes' walk-off HR in 13th lifts Padres over Rox

SAN DIEGO -- Eric Lauer held the Rockies without a hit for five innings in his return from a month-long stint on the disabled list Thursday night. But Lauer's gem felt like ancient history by the time fellow Padres rookie Franmil Reyes strode to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the 13th.
Reyes made certain Lauer's impressive return wouldn't go for naught.
Rockies righty Bryan Shaw hung a slider, and Reyes didn't miss, sending it towering into the San Diego bullpen to give the Padres a 3-2 victory in the series opener. It was their first walk-off homer of the season and Reyes' first walk-off of any kind.

"When you hit it good, you don't even feel the bat in your hands," Reyes said. "That time, I didn't even feel it hit my bat, and I was like, 'It's gone.'"
Reyes -- who's grown accustomed to starting games and being subbed for a defensive replacement -- had his role flipped on Thursday. He began the game on the bench, before a 10th-inning double switch put righty reliever Robert Stock in line to work three excellent frames in relief.

Reyes singled in the 11th, but was stranded on second base. He left no doubt in the 13th with a moonshot that left his bat at 110 mph, according to Statcast™.
"I actually told him before the game he was going to get the game-winning hit," said Padres manager Andy Green. "I probably say that to a lot of bench guys. It doesn't always happen like that."

Lauer, meanwhile, showed no ill effects from the left forearm strain that landed him on the DL in late July. His fastball sat at 92 mph and touched 94, and he only allowed a run when neophyte third baseman Wil Myers made consecutive errors in the top of the fourth.
The Padres made three errors behind Lauer, sending his pitch count soaring to 81 -- 20 more than he had thrown in any of his rehab starts. But he worked a crisp 1-2-3 fifth inning, and exited with a 2-1 lead. Matt Holliday's sixth-inning single off Trey Wingenter broke up the no-hitter.

"Probably let him go a few pitches further than I should have," Green said. "But I think it was great for him to get through that."
It marked the third consecutive excellent outing for a Padres rookie starting pitcher. Jacob Nix pitched 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball on Tuesday against Seattle. Joey Lucchesi followed that with one run over 6 2/3, while striking out nine Mariners.
Lauer may not have worked as deep. But he was just as crisp.
"Those were, consecutively, probably the three best games we've had pitched in a row," Green said. "It's no secret, you get good pitching, you win baseball games." 

GREEN PLAYS SMALL BALL
After Reyes' 11th-inning single, Travis Jankowski followed with a base hit, bringing newly promoted Luis Urías to the plate with the tying run in scoring position. Urias, the top second-base prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, never got the chance to drive in Reyes.
Instead, Green called for a sacrifice -- which Urias popped up to first base for the first out of the inning. Myers followed by bouncing into an inning-ending double play. (Eric Hosmer would've followed in the order.)

After the game, Green explained his decision to bunt, rather than let Urias swing away.
"For me, right there, that's basic baseball," Green said. "When you have runners on second and third, one out, and you have the heart of your order up, all you need is a ball in play. ... Every two-hole hitter in baseball, in that situation, with a real three and four behind them, is going to be laying that bunt down. It's something he's going to have to do at times. It's going to be a part of his game." 
MYERS SHAKY AT THIRD
For the most part, Myers has been solid since he moved to third base 2 1/2 weeks ago. But Thursday was unquestionably his worst defensive performance yet. Myers erred on a backhand attempt at an Ian Desmond grounder in the fourth, then cut in front of shortstop Freddy Galvis and booted the next grounder as well.

In the 12th, Myers added a throwing error, allowing Nolan Arenado to reach base with two outs. (Stock escaped by getting Trevor Story to bounce to short.)
"That's one of the harder positions to play in baseball, and I think everyone knows that," Green said. "These days were going to come for somebody who's never played over there. The nice thing about those mistakes -- the first and second one -- they were aggressive. ... You look back at guys who've played [Class A] or Double-A, you see those same growing pains. But you don't see them because you're not watching them on a big league field."

Ultimately, the Padres believe Myers could be a versatile roster piece who can play third base and the outfield. But he's never played third regularly before, and so the Padres fully expected these struggles -- particularly without an offseason's worth of work at the position.
"The important thing is how he bounces back, how he acclimates to the position after he makes those mistakes," Green said. "That's part of it, being able to handle the mistakes you've made." 
HE SAID IT
"If you prepare, it's not a big challenge." -- Reyes, on coming off the bench
UP NEXT
In the Padres' eyes, it's time for Brett Kennedy to step up. The rookie right-hander has struggled in his first four starts, and San Diego has lost all four of them. Kennedy was excellent at Triple-A El Paso, but he needs to do more than that to secure a place in the big league rotation. He starts Friday against the Rockies at 7:10 p.m. PT. Colorado counters with right-hander Antonio Senzatela.