Padres back on track with victory over Rockies
In conjunction with a tradition of recognizing those who serve, the Padres held their "First-Responders Opening Night" game on Friday evening in an effort to honor San Diego's first-responders from throughout the county. Members of 14 first-responder agencies were recognized in a touching pregame ceremony that was capped off with a police helicopter flyover.
#SDFirstResponders from San Diego County represented on the field today. Thank you for all you do to keep us safe! pic.twitter.com/diSzLdL5R0
- San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 2, 2015Also prior to Friday night's game, Matt Stoltz of Biking for Baseball stopped by the "Padres Social Hour" pregame show and discussed his 11,000-mile journey across America. Matt plans on visiting all 30 Major League ballparks in an effort to bring awareness to youth baseball and athletics.
Video: Padres Social Hour recap April, joined by Matt Stoltz
The Padres got into the scoring early Friday evening, as Justin Upton gave the Friars an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI groundout.
Video: COL@SD: Upton plates Myers on a forceout in the 1st
The team's run production would continue in the fourth after a rocky inning by the Rockies. Three Rockies errors and three Padres hits resulted in four runs for the Friars, including a two-out, two-run single by Yangervis Solarte.
Video: COL@SD: Solarte lines a single with the bases loaded
Solarte then added to his RBI total for the night with another two-run single in a huge Padres eighth in which they tallied eight times.
Video: COL@SD: Padres put up eight runs on the Rockies
While the bats did their job behind the plate, starting pitcher Ian Kennedy did his on the mound. Kennedy gave up two earned runs and four hits on 101 pitches with six strikeouts in six innings.
Video: COL@SD: Kennedy fans six over six frames vs. Rockies
The Padres went on to a 14-3 victory over the Rockies in front of a crowd of 30,186, improving their record to 12-12 and returning to the .500 mark.