The Padres wasted a stellar start by Blake Snell Sunday, dropping the final game of their brief road trip 5-4 in rainy Denver.
Snell went seven innings, with 12 strikeouts – in the fourth inning he struck out the side on the way to retiring 10 straight Rockies – while giving up one run on three hits.
He left the game with a 3-1 lead, but the bullpen immediately coughed it up. In the eighth. Luis Garcia replaced Snell, and two batters later, Coco Montes homered, driving in Nolan Jones, who had singled.
Yet they had a chance to win, after a wild pitch in the ninth allowed Ha-Seong Kim to score in the pouring rain.
But the Colorado series has sapped their relievers – Josh Hader saved Friday’s and Saturday’s wins and manager Bob Melvin didn’t want to tax Nick Martinez further either.
So Tom Cosgrove, who had spelled Garcia, remained in and gave up a lead-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to Ryan McMahon for the 4-4 tie. After the third baseman hit it out, umpires signaled for a rain delay.
Play resumed nearly 90 minutes later, and Melvin turned to Brent Honeywell, who came in and retired Randal Grichuk and Mike Moustakas. But then Jones tagged him with the game-winner, a walk-off no-doubter that sailed over Fernando Tatis Jr. in right. Tatis scarcely bothered to look.
“Just didn’t finish out and obviously the state of our bullpen had a little something to do with it,” Melvin said.
Aside from the loss, the Padres also had to deal with concerns for Snell, struck in the foot by a line drive in the seventh. His manager said X-rays were negative.
“I got a good feeling about him making his next start,” Melvin said.
San Diego hardly had time to miss the Friars, gone for just three games, as they return to Petco Park Tuesday after an off day to welcome the Cleveland Guardians. Joe Musgrove will take the mound, followed by Michael Wacha and Yu Darvish.
The home stand includes this season’s hottest team, Tampa Bay. The Rays, nearing 50 wins with the best record in the Major Leagues, arrive Friday.
