SAN DIEGO -- The last time Kyle Freeland had taken the mound against the Padres at Petco Park, his night was cut short after a blister on his left middle finger flared up and forced him to exit the game after five innings.

Pitching from the same mound Thursday night, the lefty capped off a strong July with the help of two close calls at the plate in the sixth inning of a 3-0 loss to the Padres at Petco Park.

The six innings and one run allowed tie a knot on a stretch of seven games where Freeland has posted a 1.98 ERA across 41 innings.

“I think if you look at his pitching line over the last seven, it's pretty solid, legit,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Legit pitching for sure. Walks are down, strikeouts are up, hits per innings pitched, all the internal numbers, great. I think he's thrown the ball very well.”

Freeland made a run-saving play at the plate with one out in the sixth after Manny Machado led off the frame with a double.

With Machado on third base, a passed ball that got away from catcher Dom Nuñez looked like it was going to allow the runner to score. That was until Freeland charged in to receive the throw, which was later revealed to have tagged Machado out.

Later in the inning, Freeland received some help on defense to finish off his final frame of work. After a walk and subsequent stolen base from Wil Myers, Freeland managed to get Eric Hosmer to ground to shortstop Trevor Story, but his throw to first pulled Rio Ruiz off the bag. Ruiz fired it home in time to get Myers at the plate, capping off Freeland’s final inning of work.

Freeland said despite the results of the Rockies’ season, he comes to the ballpark ready to compete.

“Regardless of where we're at in the season, start of the season, end of the season,” Freeland said. “Down 20 games or wherever we are in the division, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going out there. I'm looking to win a ballgame no matter what. I don't care if we're dead last [or if] we're the worst team in MLB or we're the best team in MLB. I'm going out there to do my job and win a baseball game. That's why I play.”

Freeland's 1.98 ERA in his last seven outings since June 22 is the best stretch he has had since posting a 1.85 ERA over seven starts from July 27-Aug. 28, 2018. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in an outing in that span, but he has produced a 1-4 record. He has received just four runs of support combined in his last four starts.

Black said the record doesn’t tell the whole story on how good Freeland has been. 

“His win-loss record in those seven starts is not indicative of how he's thrown,” Black said. “I think [if] you just look at the numbers, I think that tells a story. He's pitched his butt off. He really has.”

The Rockies’ offense was quiet with the lefty on the mound, as they were held to five hits and struck out a total of 13 times.

Black said Thursday’s loss represented some of the overarching struggles the Rockies have had offensively this year. But he hopes some of the younger hitters that have struggled are able to finish off the last two months of the season strong.

“Tonight [was] a microcosm of the season,” Black said. “We just can't seem to generate enough base hits to create enough traffic, and when we do get some opportunities, we've lagged getting the big hit. 

“Some guys are going through some growing pains of being young players. ... We're hoping these next two months, that some of our lesser service time players can see some marked improvement in some of these areas.”