Matt Waldron tossed six solid innings, Xander Bogaerts had three hits and the San Diego Padres rode a four-run first inning to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in Denver.
Ha-Seong Kim had two hits and two RBIs for San Diego. Waldron (1-2) used his knuckleball to keep Rockies batters off balance in his longest outing of the season, and allowed just one run on four hits. He walked three and struck out five.
Robert Suarez got the final three outs for his ninth save as San Diego posted a second win in the first three games of a four-game series.
Elias Diaz homered and singled and Ryan McMahon also went deep for the Rockies.
The Padres jumped on Colorado starter Ty Blach in the first inning. Bogaerts led off with a single before walks to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar loaded the bases with one out.
Kim hit a two-run double to right, Profar scored on a sacrifice fly from Jackson Merrill and Kim came home on Eguy Rosario’s single to center.
Blach (0-1) allowed four runs on five hits in five innings during his first start of the season and second appearance. He walked two without striking out a batter. The left-hander made his 2024 debut when he pitched a scoreless inning in relief on Monday against San Diego.
Waldron needed just 33 pitches to threw three perfect innings, but he ran into trouble in the fourth. With one out, Ezequiel Tovar and McMahon walked before Diaz singled to shortstop to load the bases.
Waldron escaped without damage when he got Elehuris Montero to pop out and Brenton Doyle to ground out.
San Diego scored again in the sixth. Two infield singles and a throwing error got Profar to third, and he scored on a groundout by Merrill to make it 5-0.
McMahon’s third homer of the season, a sixth-inning solo shot, got the Rockies on the board.
Colorado threatened for more in the sixth, but Waldron got Brendan Rodgers to ground into a fielder’s choice to strand runners at the corners.
Diaz homered to center with two outs in the eighth against Wandy Peralta, his second of the season.
