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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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By Tim Powers
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Chris Young threw six-plus solid
innings and the San Diego Padres used two home runs to take down
the Colorado Rockies, 6-1, and earn the series victory in the
finale of a three-game set on Sunday.
Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene powered the San Diego offense
with home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, to
help the Padres snap a stretch of eight consecutive series
losses.
Young (3-3) blanked Colorado for six frames before loading the
bases with no outs in the seventh. Cla Meredith came on to get
a double-play ground ball and a strikeout that allowed a run to
score but preserved a 4-1 advantage.
"That was really big and we know that's what (Meredith) can do,"
Young said. "He throws that sinker and gets ground balls.
He's a good pitcher."
Heath Bell pitched a perfect eighth before Bryan Corey, acquired
earlier in the day in a trade with Boston, worked around a walk
to contribute a scoreless ninth.
"That was more like (how) we expect to play baseball," Padres
manager Bud Black said. "Good pitching, good bullpen work,
solid defense, a couple homers. It was good to see."
A 6-10 righthander, Young yielded one run on five hits over
six-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked two batters.
"I had a lively fastball today, and I was able to establish it
both up and down in the zone," Young said. "I mixed in some
off-speed pitches here and there, but the fastball was good for
me today. The offense is the story today and the way we found a
way to score some runs."
Young's counterpart, Colorado starter Greg Reynolds (0-1), made
his major league debut and allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings.
The 21-year-old righthander, the Rockies' first-round selection
in 2006, struck out one and walked two.
"The first few innings, I felt like I stayed on top of the ball
well," Reynolds said. "I kept the ball down in the zone for the
most part and got a lot of ground balls as a result. In the
last couple of innings, I got a little lackadaisical mentally
and left some balls up and got hurt."
"I thought it was a pretty good first effort," Rockies manager
Clint Hurdle said. "(Reynolds) was very efficient through the
next four innings after the first. His pitches were just up,
but he still got outs. I thought he handled it very
professionally."
San Diego tacked on an insurance run against Justin Speier in
the seventh on a single by Kevin Kouzmanoff that made it 5-1.
Padres catcher Luke Carlin got his first major league hit in the
eighth, a double off Manny Corpas. Carlin later scored on a
single by Tadahito Iguchi to make it a 6-1 lead.
"It's just nice to win a series," said Padres first baseman
Adrian Gonzalez, who doubled in a run in the sixth. "We haven't
won one in a long time and it's something we can feel good
about. It was good to get some hits with runners in scoring
position. Greenie came up with the big home run."
With the loss, the Rockies have not won a series since taking
two of three in Houston from April 18-20.
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