Tatis Jr. leads youngsters, San Diego Padres to victory over the Rockies

The San Diego Padres put on a show for an exciting win over the Colorado Rockies. We’ve got a recap and highlights to follow.

One thing’s clear — the San Diego Padres have an extremely bright future.

The youngsters came out and played to the tune of a 9-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies. The kids were led by “the kid” himself, El Niño. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a home run. He hit another lead-off home run, making it six on the season for a franchise record.

No surprises here, folks. Carry on.

But the other young guns joined the party too, as Luis Urías went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored while Francisco Mejía had a 2-for-4 night. After the Rockies tied it up 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning, Mejía hit a single in the bottom of the sixth to get a runner on base. That kicked off a five-run inning that the Padres ultimately rode to victory.

Perhaps the most exciting moment of the night was between Tatis Jr. and Urías in the top of the fourth. With one out and runners on first and second, pitcher Jon Gray hit a grounder to Urías’ right side, where he slid and flipped a ball to Tatis Jr., who barehanded the catch and threw a rocket to first base.

It was a sight to behold as it showcased the potential of the Padres young stars. “Urías to Tatis Jr. for the double play!” has fans salivating at what the future will look like with these two manning the infield.

Unfortunately though, not all of the young players had such an evening.

Second-year starter Eric Lauer couldn’t join the party as he had another difficult outing on the mound. He lasted only four innings, giving up 10 hits and three runs in the process.

Lauer’s inability to go deep into games has plagued him thus far as he had been averaging only 5.1 innings pitched throughout the season; that number only got worse after last night. Credit to the young pitcher for keeping the game close by holding the Rockies to only three runs though.

Nevertheless, the Padres got the victory and, most importantly, looked like they were having fun. Winning helps.

Check out the highlights from the game below:

The Padres and Rockies will kick off Game 2 of the series on Friday, August 9 at 7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET.

For complete coverage of the San Diego Padres 2019 season, continue following Friars on Base all season long.