DENVER, COLORADO – JUNE 19: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres is helped off the field by acting manager Ryan Flaherty and head trainer Mark Rogow after being injured trying to reach first base against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Coors Field on June 19, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
In the 1st inning of Sunday's game the Padres lost Manny Machado to an ankle injury. You'd figure seeing the MVP frontrunner go down that early means things could only get better.
They didn't.
San Diego got beat up again on Sunday, suffering an 8-3 loss to the Rockies. It's their 10th straight defeat at Coors Field, an almost inexplicable string of futility against a franchise that hasn't been that good the last several years.
Machado tried to beat out a dribbler but hit the bag at 1st base awkwardly and rolled his ankle. The injury looked like it could have been catastrophic but the Friars said X-rays were negative and called it a sprain, possibly the best news they could have gotten. There's no official word on how long Machado will be out. It's possible that top prospect C.J. Abrams will be recalled from Triple-A El Paso to fill the roster spot.
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In the 2nd inning Luke Voit hit a long solo home run as he continues his hot stretch. Voit will be asked to pick up some of Machado's production. But, the pitching staff that's been so good all year struggled in the mile-high air.
Blake Snell was going pretty well until the 5th inning when he struggled to maintain his command. After giving up a triple and issuing a 4-pitch walk, Snell found too much of the strike zone. Brendan Rodgers and C.J. Cron lined RBI singles to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead. Acting manager Ryan Flaherty pulled Snell in favor of Steven Wilson.
Randal Grichuk welcomed him with a 3-run bomb and that was that. The Padres didn't score again until the 8th inning when Austin Nola, who was playing 2nd base after starting the game behind the plate (he moved to the infield as part of the maneuvering around the Machado injury), smacked a 2-run home run to make it an 8-3 game.
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The Friars actually had the same number of hits as the Rockies with 10 but went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
San Diego starts a 3-game series against the Diamondbacks at Petco Park on Monday night. Yu Darvish is on the mound against former Padre Zach Davies.
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