Rox rough up Shields but can't reverse skid

SAN DIEGO -- The Rockies did everything they could have hoped against Padres ace James Shields on Sunday. They bested him for three home runs, two from Nolan Arenado and one from Charlie Blackmon, and scored five runs to chase him after 5 1/3 innings.

But after the team's fifth straight loss, Blackmon wasn't basking in his accomplishments. Blackmon, who would add a ninth-inning homer off Padres closer Craig Kimbrel, was left pondering the hit he couldn't deliver in the 8-6 loss.

In the sixth, with the Padres leading, 6-5, the Rockies loaded the bases with one out, but reliever Dale Thayer forced Troy Tulowitzki into a first-pitch infield popup and retired Blackmon on a grounder to third base.

"At the end of the day, what really matters is getting those hits in the situations that will help you win the game, and we didn't do it today," Blackmon said.

The performances of Arenado, who was 4-for-18 in the previous five games of the road trip, and Blackmon, who hit three homers in the final two games and was 10-for-25 on the 1-5 trip, can be seen as positives as the Rockies return home for three games with the D-backs.

"We had good, competitive at-bats," Blackmon said. "Results-wise, we did well against him [Shields] -- we scored quite a few runs, Nolan had some good at-bats to drive in three off of him. We came to play and put it on him a little bit with the sticks, more than we were expecting."

Sunday marked the first time the Rockies had multiple players hit multiple homers in the same game since Tulowitzki hit three and Carlos Gonzalez added two against the Reds on June 5, 2013. But the Rockies would rather be winning than picking something to celebrate during their second five-game losing streak this season.

"We need to do everything -- pitch better, hit better, click with men on base," Arenado said. "We're not very good right now. We need to start changing it up, because losing is contagious and people start to get out of it. We need to start winning."