Gonzalez making steps toward improvement

If Chi Chi Gonzalez can get his two-seam and four-seam fastballs to behave with regularity, he has a solid chance to be part of the Rockies’ rotation next season.

He’s making some progress, as his 2.20 ERA over his last three starts illustrates, but he has got a long way to go, as his performance in Colorado’s 10-5 victory over San Diego on Sunday showed.

He gave up only one on four hits and struck out five. But he also walked five batters, including three in the first inning to load the bases. And Gonzalez needed 99 pitches (60 strikes) to get through four innings, which is why manager Bud Black gave him the early hook.

“It was definitely a grind today,” Gonzalez said. “Today I really had to concentrate on the mechanics.”

After the first inning, pitching coach Steve Foster took Gonzalez into the video room and showed him some things in a brief tutorial.

“That was huge for me, and I was just being a little bit overaggressive, I think,” Gonzalez said. “The ball was moving a lot, which was good, but it wasn’t coming out of my mind quite right.” First-timer. Gonzalez, 0-for-18 coming into the game, got his first big-league hit with a two-run single to left in the second inning. “It was great, especially after they had scored two runs after I gave up a home run,” said Gonzalez, who also collected his first two RBIs. “It was past due for me. Sometimes I take some good atbats, and sometimes I haven’t. That was a good at-bat.” Coors Canaveral. The Rockies pulled off their first three-game sweep of the Padres since July 1719, 2017, at Coors Field. Over 19 games this season, Colorado scored 138 runs against San Diego, its most runs scored against any opponent in a single season in franchise history.

The Padres’ starters lasted a total of 34L innings in 10 games at Coors Field this season. Their 15.35 ERA is club’s highest in 25 years at Coors. Footnotes. Lefty reliever Sam Howard notched his first bigleague victory, pitching 1M innings of relief, the longest scoreless outing of his career. … Southpaw Kyle Freeland, coming back from a left groin strain, is scheduled to pitch a simulated game Tuesday. If that goes well, he’ll be able to pitch in a game or two before the end of the season. … Padres center fielder Wil Myers continues to torment Colorado. He went 2-for-3 with a double and hit his 18th home run. He hit safely in 17 of the 18 games he played against the Rockies this season, batting .423 (30-for-71) with seven doubles, six homers and 15 RBIs.