David Peralta hit a three-run home run an inning after stopping Sam Hilliard from hitting a home run, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies 10-2 on Sunday. This win gave the Padres their first series win against the Rockies this season, after losing the first two series.
Kyle Higashioka and All-Star Jurickson Profar also hit home runs for the Padres, who had lost five games in a row to the Rockies before winning 3-2 on Saturday night. San Diego improved to an MLB-best 11-3 since the All-Star break.
The Rockies had a chance to win the season series, which they are currently leading 6-4. They still have a three-game series remaining in Denver in two weeks. Colorado came into Sunday with the worst record in the National League at 41-71.
Knuckleball pitcher Matt Waldron (7-9) had a strong performance, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run and two hits while striking out seven and walking two. He gave up a home run to Brenton Doyle, his 19th of the season, leading off the fourth inning.
Higashioka hit a home run to left field leading off the fifth inning, his 13th, to give San Diego a 2-1 lead against former Padres pitcher Cal Quantrill (7-8). Profar then hit a home run to right field with one out, his 19th, which is one shy of his career high.
The Padres then extended their lead in the sixth inning. Justin Lawrence, who replaced Quantrill with one out in the fifth inning, hit Xander Bogaerts with a pitch to start the inning and walked rookie Jackson Merrill. Peralta then hit a home run to right field, his third of the season, making it a 6-1 lead.
Peralta made a great catch in right field to take away a home run from Hilliard leading off the fifth inning. Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth each had two hits and two RBIs.
“I think both,” Peralta said when asked if hitting a home run or robbing one felt better. “Anything to do to help the team is good, so today was a good game for the whole team. Great teams find a way to win and that’s what we’ve been doing. We’re going to continue to do that.”
He said making the catch was “a little tough, and then I was like, ‘I’m going for it.’”
“I think I hit the soft part of the wall because it was kind of tough. But it was good, and I was happy I made the play for Waldron,” Peralta said.
