GORE HAS BAD ALTITUDE

Young lefty finds out fast that Coors Field can be a nightmare

It doesn’t take much for a game at Coors Field to get wild.

Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore was not sharp again Friday night, and in a venue that doesn’t forgive, the rookie found out how quickly a not-close game can become a close game and how quickly a close game can become not close anymore.

That’s baseball played higher in the sky.

On Friday, after a bunch of runs in a little bit of time, the Rockies beat the Pa- dres 10-4.

“I definitely felt better than the last one but just made a lot of bad pitches,” Gore said.

Gore’s fastball velocity was down for a second straight start, and he threw a few pitches too close to the center of the strike zone. Three of those pitches were hit over the wall. At least one of those rode the thin air on its way to becoming a tworun homer.

That one, hit off the uppermost portion of C.J. Cron’s bat, accounted for two of the Rockies’ three runs in the first inning. They added three in the fourth on Randal Grichuk’s homer.

After the Padres scored four runs to get to 6-4 in the top of the fifth, Gore didn’t get an out in the bottom of the inning. Charlie Blackmon singled before Cron ripped a flat curveball an estimated 486 feet at 111.2 mph

over the bleachers beyond left field to put the Rockies up 8-4.

“We have done a pretty good job of keeping the ball in the ballpark,” said Gore, who had allowed one homer before Friday. “We didn’t do that tonight.”

Gore, who had a 1.50 ERA in his first nine games, has allowed 14 runs in 61⁄3 innings over his past two starts, both against the Rockies.

Mike Clevinger, who came off the injured list Friday after a bout with the flu, relieved Gore with a runner on first and escaped without further damage before allowing two runs in the sixth.

Trent Grisham’s leadoff homer in the fifth was followed by Jose Azocar’s triple. With one out, Jurickson Profar hit a sacrifice fly, Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch and Manny Machado and Luke Voit doubled in succession.

The Rockies, who had lost their previous seven home games, won their third straight game against the Padres.

DAVID ZALUBOWSKI AP Padres pitcher MacKenzie Gore (foreground) rubs up a new ball as Colorado’s C.J. Cron (background) circles the bases after a two-run homer in first inning.