PADS ERUPT FOR SEASON HIGHS IN RUNS, HITS

Rox Fall in Coors Field Special

DENVER, July 9 (AP) - The San Diego Padres emerged from a season-long offensive malaise, outlasting the Colorado Rockies 15-11 in one of the highest scoring games of the major league season to date.  The Padres, by far the worst offensive club in the big leagues this year, easily set season highs in runs (15) and hits (19) in a seesaw affair that saw them overcome an early four-run deficit and then blow a five-run lead before scoring five runs over the final two frames to secure the victory.

Each team scored a run in the first inning.  San Diego's Chris Denorfia hit his first home run of the season off Rockies starter Jair Jurrjens and Colorado matched that tally on Charlie Blackmon's ninth homer of the year off Eric Stults in the bottom half.

The Rockies scored a pair of runs in each of the next two innings as well.  D.J. LeMahieu's two-run shot in the second made it 3-1 and Wilin Rosario followed a walk to Troy Tulowitzki with a two-run homer of his own in the third, giving Colorado a 5-1 lead. 

After a scoreless fourth, the Padres erupted for four runs in the fifth, driving Jurrjens from the game.  Seth Smith, Denorfia, Chase Headley and Jake Goebbert netted the RBIs as San Diego sent nine men to the plate, tying the game.  But that was just a warm-up act for the top of the sixth when the Padres scored five more runs, this time sending 10 hitters to the plate.  Rockies reliever Chad Bettis aided the effort, uncorking three wild pitches in the inning, and after Bettis was lifted, San Diego pinged his replacement, Brooks Brown, to death.  The Padres had five hits in the inning, all of them singles, and four different players drove in runs, with the fifth scoring on one of the wild pitches.  When the dust settled, the Padres held a 10-5 lead.

It was incredible how quickly that five-run advantage disappeared.  Tim Stauffer started the bottom of the sixth on the mound for San Diego, faced four batters and retired none of them.  By the time he was replaced by Kevin Quackenbush Colorado had cut the lead to 10-7 and had runners on first and third with the tying run at the plate.  Quackenbush walked Drew Stubbs, the first batter he faced, to load the bases and then surrendered a fly ball to the warning track in left field to Tulowitzki.  The sacrifice fly scored Jason Rutledge to make it 10-8.  Another walk filled the bases again and, two batters later, Kyle Parker lined a two-run single, tying the game.  Brandon Barnes fanned to finally end an inning that saw 10 more batters come to the plate.

Remarkably neither team scored in the seventh but the Padres broke the tie in the top of the eighth, scoring twice, on a Rene Rivera RBI-single and another wild pitch, this one thrown by Matt Belisle.

The Rockies didn't quit, cutting the deficit to 12-11 when Rosario's double to left scored Stubbs.

But the Padres added some much needed insurance in the top of the ninth, when four consecutive hits with two men out scored three more runs, making the score 15-11.

Huston Street came on for the Padres in a non-save situation and calmly set the Rockies down in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the 4 hour 9 minute marathon, the longest nine-inning game of the major league season so far.

The previous San Diego high mark for runs this season was 11, set on May 4 against Arizona.  The prior season club high for hits was 13, accomplished three times.  The 15 runs scored by the Padres in this game was only one short of the cumulative total for the team's previous seven July games.

7/9/2014, SD14-Col14, Coors Field

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2014 Padres            1  0  0  0  4  5  0  2  3    15 19  0    12  1
2014 Rockies           1  2  2  0  0  5  0  1  0    11 15  2     8  0

Padres               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Rockies              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Smith,S           lf  4  2  2  1  .270    Blackmon          rf  6  2  2  2  .263
Denorfia          rf  6  2  2  2  .234    Stubbs            cf  3  2  0  0  .254
 Street           p   0  0  0  0  .000    Tulowitzki        ss  3  1  2  1  .349
Headley           3b  6  2  2  1  .204    Rosario           c   4  1  4  3  .234
Grandal           c   4  1  1  1  .202    Arenado           3b  5  0  1  0  .272
Goebbert          1b  5  1  2  2  .259    Parker,K          1b  5  0  1  2  .091
Venable           cf  5  2  3  0  .249     Brothers         p   0  0  0  0  .000
Amarista          ss  6  1  2  2  .175    Barnes,B          lf  4  2  1  0  .264
Falu              2b  5  3  3  1  .321    LeMahieu          2b  5  2  3  2  .211
Stults            p   1  0  0  0  .042    Jurrjens          p   1  0  0  0  .000
 Quentin          ph  1  1  1  0  .160     Bettis           p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Thayer           p   0  0  0  0  .000     Brown,B          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Conrad           ph  1  0  0  0  .056     Rutledge         ph  1  1  1  1  .280
 Stauffer         p   0  0  0  0  .000     Kahnle           p   1  0  0  0  .500
 Quackenbush      p   0  0  0  0  .000     Logan            p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Medica           ph  0  0  0  0  .220     Belisle          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Boyer            p   0  0  0  0  .000     McKenry          c   1  0  0  0  .250
 Rivera           ph  1  0  1  1  .281                         39 11 15 11
 Benoit           p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Maybin           ph  1  0  0  0  .216
                     46 15 19 11

Padres                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Stults                           4.0  7  5  5  1  4  61  42  6.50
Thayer                           1.0  2  0  0  0  1  20  13  3.82
Stauffer                         0.0  3  4  4  1  0  17   9  4.99
Quackenbush      BS 2            1.0  1  1  1  2  1  31  16  2.20
Boyer            W 1-1           1.0  0  0  0  0  1  11   8  3.75
Benoit           H 8             1.0  2  1  1  1  2  26  18  0.74
Street                           1.0  0  0  0  0  1   9   8  1.95
                                 9.0 15 11 11  5 10 175 114 

Rockies                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Jurrjens                         4.1  7  5  5  2  5  77  46  5.56
Bettis                           1.0  2  2  2  1  2  25  12 16.74
Brown,B                          0.2  4  3  0  0  1  31  22  0.00
Kahnle           L 3-4           1.2  2  2  2  3  3  52  28  3.67
Logan                            0.0  0  0  0  1  0   5   1  3.72
Belisle                          1.0  2  2  2  0  2  27  17  6.99
Brothers                         0.1  2  1  0  0  0   7   4  6.52
                                 9.0 19 15 11  7 13 224 130 

SD : Quentin batted for Stults in the 5th
     Conrad batted for Thayer in the 6th
     Medica batted for Quackenbush in the 7th
     Rivera batted for Boyer in the 8th
     Maybin batted for Benoit in the 9th
     Venable moved to rf in the 9th
     Maybin moved to cf in the 9th
Col: Rutledge batted for Brown,B in the 6th
     Rosario moved to 1b in the 9th
     McKenry inserted at c in the 9th

E-Stubbs, Rosario. 2B-Smith,S(24), Rosario(19). HR-Denorfia(1), Blackmon(9), 
Rosario(5), LeMahieu(6). RBI-Smith,S(30), Denorfia 2(12), Headley(20), 
Grandal(20), Goebbert 2(2), Amarista 2(18), Falu(6), Rivera(24), 
Blackmon 2(29), Tulowitzki(60), Rosario 3(24), Parker,K 2(2), LeMahieu 2(24), 
Rutledge(14). SB-Headley(4), Venable(10). K-Smith,S, Denorfia, Headley 3, 
Grandal 2, Goebbert 2, Venable, Falu, Stults, Conrad, Blackmon, Stubbs 2, 
Parker,K 3, Barnes,B 3, Kahnle. BB-Smith,S 2, Grandal 2, Venable, Falu, 
Medica, Stubbs 2, Tulowitzki, Rosario, Barnes,B. SH-Jurrjens. SF-Goebbert, 
Tulowitzki. WP-Bettis 3, Belisle. 
GWRBI: Rivera
Temperature: 78, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 14 MPH.
Attendance: 40,069
Game Time: 4:09