Life returned to normal for the Rockies on Saturday in San Diego.

The night after one of their most stirring wins of their historically bad season, the Rockies were hammered, 11-3, by the Padres at Petco Park.

In their 4-2 win over the Padres on Friday night, Colorado got a brilliant start from Tanner Gordon and timely hits. On Saturday night, the Rockies got neither, and their record slid to 41-108.

A check of the Rockies’ misery index shows that they have lost 18 of their last 22 games, and their run differential is minus-394. The Rockies have blown past the modern-era record of minus-349, set by the 1932 Boston Red Sox.

Rockies right-hander Bradley Blalock, called up from Triple-A Albuquerque to start in place of Chase Dollander, who went on the injured list, was gone after three innings.

Pardon the pun, but Blalock didn’t have a prayer vs. the Padres’ veteran hitters. The first hint came in the first inning. Blaylock gave up a one-out single to Luis Arrez and loaded the bases with back-to-back walks to Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets. Ramon Laureano’s sacrifice fly made it 1-1.

The Padres made it 3-1 in the second on a one-out single by Jake Cronenworth and a two-run homer by Fernando Tatis, Jr. In the third, solo homers by Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill put the Padres ahead 5-1.

“(Blalock) got ahead well, it’s just that with two strikes, he had a tough time putting hitters away,”  Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “It was good to see him get ahead, but at the end you’ve got to put guys away. The pitch count rose because of that. And a couple of pitches over the plate were hit for homers.”

Blalock’s line: three innings, five runs on five hits, with two walks, no strikeouts and three home runs surrendered. He threw 69 pitches, 42 for strikes. Blalock’s season: 1-5, 9.00 ERA, 10 homers, and a .343 average against in 10 starts (13 appearances).

Enter former starter Antonio Senzatela, who’s been demoted to the bullpen. San Diego sent eight men to the plate against him in the fourth, scoring four runs on four hits and a walk. The key hits were a two-run single by Machado and a two-run double by Laureano.

Senzatela’s season: 4-15, 6.84 ERA, 22 homers, and a .348 average against in 28 games (23 starts). The Blalock-Senzatela combo illustrates just how shallow the Rockies’ pitching depth is right now.

The game started on a high note for Colorado. Tyler Freeman led off with a double and scored on Jordan Beck’s RBI single. It marked the first time since Aug. 21 against the Dodgers at Coors Field that Colorado scored in the first inning, a drought of 20 games.

After that, however, San Diego right-hander Dylan Cease shut down Colorado’s offense for the next five innings. Cease allowed one run on five hits, struck out six, and walked only one.

The Rockies scored two runs in the eighth on first baseman Blaine Crim’s two-run double off reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. Much too little and much too late for Colorado, especially when Bryce Johnson hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Angel Chivilli in the bottom of the frame.

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Originally Published: September 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM MDT