The Rockies’ epic drought ended with a cloudburst of terrific pitching by Tanner Gordon and one of the feel-good moments of the season coming from a most unlikely source.
First baseman Blaine Crim, called up from Triple-A Albuquerque before the game, hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning. It was the first homer, indeed the first hit, of his major league career, and it carried the Rockies to a 4-2 win over the Padres Friday night at Petco Park.
“For me, that three-run homer felt like a bubble burst, ” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters in San Diego. “It felt like you could feel the dugout exhale a little bit — which was huge. It was exactly what we needed.”
Of course, nothing comes easy for the 2025 Rockies. San Diego scored a run in the ninth off closer Victor Vodnik and had men on first and third before Vodnik struck out Ryan O’Hearn to close out the game and give Vodnik his eighth save.
Colorado snapped a six-game losing streak, but that’s not what made Crim’s homer so huge.
Entering the night, Colorado had been shut out in all four games at Petco this season. In fact, the Rockies last scored a run in San Diego in the seventh inning on Aug. 4, 2024, on a solo home run by Jacob Stallings. The 38 consecutive innings without a run was Colorado’s longest streak in a ballpark in team history.
The drought grew to 41 2/3 innings before Crim ripped JP Sears’ first-pitch sweeper 439 feet to left-center, scoring Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck, who opened the fourth with back-to-back singles.
“After I swung, I sort of blacked out,” Crim told Rockies.TV. “It was a super-special moment.”
Immediately after Crim’s homer, Kyle Farmer launched a solo homer to center to give Colorado a 4-1 lead.
Gordon, who, along with veteran Kyle Freeland, has been a bright spot in the rotation over the last month, pitched six-plus innings, allowing one run on just two hits and one walk. He tied a career high with nine strikeouts.
“His fastball command (was good) and I thought he kept them off-balance with his offspeed stuff,” Schaeffer said. “That’s what he does when he’s good, and he’s been a lot more good than bad.”
Manny Machado hit a two-out solo homer in the first inning to give San Diego a 1-0 lead, but Gordon retired the next 16 hitters he faced.
In Gordon’s last six starts, he’s 4-1 (the Rockies 5-1) with a 3.86 ERA, with 33 strikeouts and eight walks.
Crim was claimed off waivers from Texas on Aug. 3 and assigned to Triple-A. He slashed .273/.360/.424 six doubles and three home runs in 26 games with the Isotopes. He made his major league debut with the Rangers on May 2 vs. Seattle. He appeared in five games, going 0 for 11 with one hit by pitch and one walk.
He was called up to the big-league club to replace the first baseman Michael Toglia, who continues to struggle at the big-league level.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.
Originally Published: