Rested Arenado belts trio of homers in rout
All-star’s seven RBIS pace Rockies
DENVER — To fire up Nolan Arenado, give him a day off.
His manager mandated he sit a game, and Arenado stewed over it for a night before taking it out on the baseball.
Arenado lined three homers as part of his five-hit afternoon and tied a career high with seven RBIS, helping the Colorado Rockies complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with an 18-4 victory Wednesday.
“I don’t like days off,” Arenado said. “I know they’re important, and, obviously, I’m playing well after them.”
In games after not being in the lineup this season, the Allstar third baseman is hitting .583 with four home runs and 13 RBIS.
Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon also homered on a scorching day when the Rockies had a season-high 21 hits. Gerardo Parra ran his streak of reaching base to 10 straight plate appearances over three games before flying out in the fifth. He finished with four singles.
Arenado had two RBI singles to start the game, followed by solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings and a three-run homer in the sixth. He had a chance at a fourth home run in the eighth and lined out to left.
Jon Gray (3-1) kept the
Padres in check until running out of steam. The right-hander allowed all four of his runs in the sixth — his last inning.
Padres starter Clayton Richard (5-10) lasted 3 2/3 innings and gave up 11 runs, 10 earned, inflating his ERA from 4.75 to 5.35. He also matched a team record by allowing 14 hits.
“I felt good today, unfortunately,” Richard said. “It seemed like one of those days where it wasn’t meant to be.”
This illustrated the kind of offensive afternoon it was for the Rockies: Blackmon’s leg cramped up on a foul ball in the sixth.
He consulted with Rockies manager Bud Black and the trainer before leaving the game. Inheriting an 0-and-2 count, pinch hitter Pat Valaika lined an RBI single.