SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres continued to flex, as they matched their season high with three home runs to sweep the Colorado Rockies with a 7-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
Ty France knocked a trio of hits, including a double and his first home run of the season while scoring three times, while Manny Machado and Ramón Laureano drove in a pair of runs as the Padres (10-6) extended their winning streak to five games and swept the four-game series with Colorado (6-10). Since their opening home stand, San Diego has won eight of their last 10 games.
France led off the third inning with a solo home run, making no mistake with the second cutter he saw from reliever Valente Bellozo and crushing the knee-high delivery into the bullpen in center field on the first Military Sunday of the season. It was his first long ball for the Friars since bashing a two-run homer off then-Arizona’s Robbie Ray on Sept. 22, 2019.
"It's hard to take great at bats when you're not playing all the time, and Ty hasn't said 'boo' about it, he just shows up to the yard every day, puts in the work, gets ready for his at bats... right on par for who Ty is what he gets done," said manager Craig Stammen.
Starter Nick Pivetta left the game after throwing a fastball for a strike to Edouard Julien in the top of the fourth inning. He was removed by Stammen and head athletic trainer Mark Rogow after sitting the Rockies down in order after his first time through the lineup and throwing 46 pitches. The official announcement was elbow stiffness.
"I think it's similar to what he was going through in spring training, very similar - the same thing, I think we caught it early enough this time, hopefully things will be alright, but any time when someone's elbow — especially a pitcher — it's reason for caution and that's probably why we took him out of the game when we did," Stammen said.
"We'll see how he feels tomorrow. There's a world where he makes his next start, so I think we're optimistic that we caught it at the right time and he just needs a little breather, maybe get healthy and get some vitamin C in him and he'll feel a bit better."
San Diego did additional damage when Machado converted Jackson Merrill’s single and stolen base with an opposite field RBI single in the fifth. After not driving a run in over the first eight games, Machado has knocked in nine over the past seven games.
Laureano added more insurance by cracking his team-leading fourth home run of the season in the sixth, a two-run shot to left field that plated France and moved him into the team lead for RBI. It was the seventh start for Laureano in the lead off spot, with the Padres going 6-1 having Razor at the top of the order.
"(Laureano's) just tough, and he don't care. He's gonna take a a good at bat every single time and he wants to get a hit, he wants to do something good for the team and he continues to do that every at bat. Even when he strikes out, it's a competitive at bat, he's going down fighting... even when he hits the home runs he's still straight-faced, and focused and ready for the next one," Stammen said.
Merrill squared up a low and inside four-seamer from Bellozo for a solo home run in the seventh inning. The Padres have had a home run in six straight games and knocked nine long balls in the series against the Rockies. San Diego had hit just seven over the fences in their first 12 games.
Kyle Hart stepped in to replace Pivetta in the fourth and induced a 2-2 groundout, then set Colorado down in order for the inning. He retired the first two Rockies in the fifth before plunking Ezquivel Tovar and walking Brenton Doyle, then the Rockies put their two runs on the board when Brett Sullivan doubled.
Hart finished with 2 1/3 innings pitched and allowed one hit for two runs, with a walk and a strikeout. David Morgan came on and got a pair of strikeouts to end the sixth, finishing with 1 2/3 hitless innings pitched and four strikeouts with a walk to earn his second win of the season. Padres pitchers matched their season-low from 2025 by holding the Rockies to two hits.
San Diego manufactured a run in the second, taking advantage of France leading off by poking a low and away sinker for a double to right-center off Chase Dollander. Bryce Johnson, who made his third start of the season, sacrificed to bunt him over so Freddy Fermin could hit a sac fly.
The Padres scored in the first inning for just the second time all season when Machado drove in Laureano with a sacrifice fly, after Laureano got aboard by wearing a fastball from Colorado opener Jimmy Hergert, who took his first loss of the season.
Wandy Peralta threw a scoreless eighth with a strikeout, and Bradlgey Rodriguez closed the game out by allowing a hit and striking out a pair in the ninth.
"Both teams were coming into the game a little short from the extra inning games and just using a lot of relievers over the last three days, so those boys stepped up," Stammen said.
"When Nick went down, they called down and said said 'everybody's available.' They all wanted to pitch, they all wanted to be the person that helped the team get through the game and help us get a W.
"Made a former bullpen guy pretty proud of those guys wanting to take the ball, that's pretty awesome."
Colorado’s scheduled starter, lefty Kyle Freeland, did not make the start due to left posterior shoulder soreness.
Fernando Tatis Jr. made his second straight at second base, as Jake Cronenworth was given the day off.
The Padres will have an off day on Monday and are slated to start Michael King (1-1, 3.24 ERA) to open the series against the Seattle Mariners. The M’s will start right-hander Bryan Woo (0-1, 1.50 ERA) for the first game of the 2026 edition of the Vedder Cup, which begins on Tuesday, April 14 at 6:40 p.m. at Petco Park.
Last season the Mariners won all three games in San Diego, then won two of three in Seattle to claim the trophy guitar designed by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. The rivalry series supports the Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Partnership, learn more at ebresearch.org.
This story was updated at 4:40 p.m.