Campusano, Choi lead rally for the Padres, who beat the Rockies 3-2 for their 7th straight win
SAN DIEGO — Luis Campusano tied the game with a bases-loaded single with one out in the seventh and Ji Man Choi followed with a sacrifice fly for his first RBI with the San Diego Padres, who beat the last-place Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Wednesday to extend their season-best winning streak to seven.
Campusano and Choi were both pinch-hitting and the moves paid off for manager Bob Melvin, whose high-priced Padres have struggled offensively most of this underwhelming season.
Campusano lofted a single to right to bring in Juan Soto, who started the rally with a walk. Choi’s fly ball to deep center brought in Trent Grisham, who was pinch-running for Garrett Cooper, who singled and advanced on Matthew Batten’s single.
Choi, obtained from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, still doesn’t have a hit with the Padres. He missed 29 games with a left ribcage strain.
Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 31st save, retiring Brendan Rodgers with a runner on third. Luis Garcia (2-3) got the win and Rockies starter Chase Anderson (0-6) took the loss.
The Padres came into Wednesday 5 1/2 games back in the race for the NL’s third wild-card spot, with four teams ahead of them. The Padres, who have been under .500 since May 12, have nine games left. San Diego reached the NL Championship Series last year and then increased its payroll to about $250 million, the third-highest in the majors.
It took a sweep of the Oakland Athletics, who have the worst record in the majors, for the Padres to win four consecutive games, the last team in the majors to do so this season. They extended the streak by sweeping the Rockies, who have the NL’s worst record.
A day after breaking up San Diego’s combined no-hitter leading off the ninth, Rodgers homered to left-center with one out in the first off Seth Lugo. Rodgers, last year’s NL Gold Glove winner at second base, didn’t make his season debut until July 31 after hurting his left shoulder early in spring training and needing surgery.
The Rockies made it 2-0 when San Diegan Sean Bouchard singled in rookie Nolan Jones with two outs. Jones singled and took third on Ryan McMahon’s single.
Xander Bogaerts hit a leadoff single off Anderson and scored on Soto’s groundout. Anderson threw seven no-hit innings in his previous start, against San Francisco. Bogaerts had three hits.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: LHP Tim Hill had surgery on his left ring finger to repair ligaments and clean up scar tissue. He will begin a throwing program in six to eight weeks and is expected to be ready for spring training. … 2B Ha-Seong Kim missed his fourth straight game with a stomach ailment.
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Noah Davis (0-2, 9.58 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday in the opener of a three-game series at the Chicago Cubs, who are expected to counter with RHP Jameson Taillon (7-10, 5.27).
Padres: RHP Matt Waldron (1-3, 5.16) is scheduled to start Friday night in the opener of the final home series, against RHP Dakota Hudson (6-2, 5.12) and the St. Louis Cardinals.
