San Diego Padres Head to Denver for Three With the Rockies

SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 29: Clayton Richard
SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 29: Clayton Richard /
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The San Diego Padres left Houston with just one actual victory but many morale-boosting others. They now head to Denver for a three-game set with the Colorado Rockies.

We would all have an extra bounce in our steps today if the San Diego Padres had been able to take two-of-three from the Houston Astros. But they didn’t, so we don’t, and all parties will move on.

The Friars should be extremely proud of themselves for making it out of Houston without being outscored by 20 runs. In fact, this team kept things exciting through the weekend and up until the very end of the game on Sunday.

There’s a lot to say for Tyson Ross making the most of some tough breaks yesterday and Freddy Galvis continuing to make his case for being the best acquisition AJ Preller has made in his tenure as the Padres’ general manager.

This team has some steam heading into the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Padres are surely looking to release some frustration vs. the Rockies

Andy Green, being the quality manager and ridiculously smart baseball guy that he is, will likely have his team frothing at the mouths to get back out on the field tonight, ready to build off of the encouraging, albeit not victorious, results of this past weekend.

The aforementioned Galvis has stayed hot, reaching base safely in all ten games so far, carrying a .364/.475/.485 slash line with five RBI and seven walks in 33 at-bats. So much for the “light-hitting” tagline, huh? Look for him to keep it up.

Eric Hosmer likes, and is quite adept at, going the other way. The Rockies played him to pull in three of four games last week and he responded by going to the opposite field twice, both times for doubles. I’m curious to see if they try it again. It would be a bold move, that’s for sure.

We should expect to see Hosmer continue to heat up. He’s been looking more and more comfortable at the plate since starting off a little slow at the beginning of the season.

After going 0-for-4 yesterday, he’s certainly looking to switch into high-gear in the hitter-friendly atmosphere of Coors Field.

More from Friars on Base

Pitching matchups for Padres/Rox series in Denver

The number-one starters for both the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies will face-off tonight, with Clayton Richard (0-1, 4.50) going up against Jon Gray (1-1, 2.45).

Richard will look to avenge the five earned runs he allowed to the Rox in his outing versus them last week.

Tomorrow the Rockies will send Tyler Anderson (0-0, 7.56) to the mound to face Joey Lucchesi (0-0, 2.79). Lucchesi has looked good so far and was outstanding in his last start against Colorado.

In five innings last Thursday, Lucchesi, 24, allowed just one hit, walked three and struck out seven.

Closing out the series on Wednesday afternoon will be Luis Perdomo (1-1, 6.00), who is coming off of a terrific start on Friday versus the Astros (five innings, four hits, one earned-run), will square off against German Marquez (0-1, 6.52).

Next: Padres Showed Themselves Who They Are in Houston

If the Padres can get out of Colorado with a sweep, improving their record to 5-7 before closing out their road-trip in San Francisco, it could bode very well after a sluggish start to the season. A spoonful of wins will cure all that ails ya!