Vásquez shines with 7 scoreless as Padres toss shutout at Coors
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DENVER – After five scoreless innings of one-hit ball at Coors Field, the Padres finally broke out in the sixth inning to put a lone straight number on the scoreboard as they beat the Rockies for the 10th time in 11 games, taking the series opener on Tuesday 1-0.
It was the fourth 1-0 win for a visiting team in Coors Field history, and the first time the Padres won a 1-0 game with the only run being walked home since April 7, 2005.
On paper, it was an unlikely matchup for a classic pitchers’ duel, with Randy Vásquez taking on the Rockies’ bullpen. On the field, however, pitching aficionados got a rare treat as Vásquez squared off inning after inning, primarily against Colorado’s Chase Dollander, who pitched six innings after opener Jimmy Herget. Ultimately, Vásquez threw seven scoreless innings and combined with relievers Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon for a Coors Field shutout.
“It was fantastic,” manager Craig Stammen said of Vásquez’s performance. “It’s hard to pitch like that at Coors Field. He did a tremendous job of throwing strikes. Kept his pitch count down. Got a lot of swing-and-miss. Just an outstanding outing from Randy.”
Tuesday was Stammen's first game at Coors Field as a manager. In his Coors Field pitching debut on July 6, 2009, he threw seven innings for the Nationals -- and lost a 1-0 game.
Vásquez posted his team-best third quality start, lowering his ERA to 1.88, giving up three hits and striking out five, while only letting one man get to second -- on Ezequiel Tovar’s stolen base in the second after being hit by a pitch. It was his first career road start of at least seven innings.
“I was just trusting my game plan and executing my pitches,” Vásquez said through team interpreter Pedro Gutierrez. “I knew that they swing early in the at-bat, so I just tried to locate my pitches.”
Vásquez was unphased by the often-unfriendly confines of Coors, the stuff of many a pitcher’s nightmares as they struggle with different movement in the dry, high-elevation conditions.
“Altitude or not, I don’t focus on that,” Vásquez said. “With the cutter and the changeup, I adjust a little, if necessary, but if they’re working like today, it’s not really a concern.”
The Padres cracked the code in the sixth, after Dollander retired 12 consecutive batters, including six straight strikeouts. Jake Cronenworth laced a one-out hustle double to right to ignite the Padres only' rally.
“That was huge,” Stammen said. “It's just momentum, because early in the game there was a stagnant atmosphere. We weren't getting anything going. We struck out on the side. Their pitchers had us in a tailspin.
“Jake gets one through the hole, and then like he always does, hustling everywhere, gets that double and made us feel like, ‘All right, we can score a run here.’”
Cronenworth advanced on a two-out infield single from Fernando Tatis Jr., before Jackson Merrill was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
With Manny Machado at the plate, Dollander allowed the only walk of the game, plating Cronenworth and providing the Padres with their margin of victory.
“It was a good pitch, up and away,” Machado said. “I wasn't really gonna do much with that. He threw the ball really well. He struck out, I don't know how many. He got us in the corner, and we got up.”
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Mason Miller never got up in the game, despite the save situation in the ninth inning of a 1-0 game. The Padres decided days ago that if Miller pitched on Sunday, they’d give him Tuesday off so he could have two days down with the off-day.
“We've used him a lot over here over the last week or so,” Stammen said. “He's not a robot.”
Miller was missed, but Adam and Morejon had no trouble filling his shoes.
“There’s not many [teams] that have the luxury of having that when their closer’s down,” Stammen said. “We have the luxury of doing that.”
It was Morejon’s first save opportunity of the year, and he rose to the occasion, demonstrating the depth of the Padres ‘pen. He’d gotten a heads-up from pitching coach Ben Fritz that he and Adam might be used to close the game.
“I know it's more amazing for the manager, because he has the chance to use everybody in the bullpen right now,” Morejon said.
Miller didn’t put up a fight about getting a little break.
“No, not in April,” he said, beaming a broad smile.