Inside the numbers of the wacky Padres-Rockies series
The Padres grind out a 14-13 win over the Rockies after scoring four runs with two out in the ninth inning. (0:31)
Baseball has never seen a series quite like the four-game set between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies this weekend at Coors Field. A record number of runs, two epic comebacks, 15 hits — by one guy.
In case you missed it, the series went like this:
Thursday: A relatively pedestrian 9-6 win for the Rockies.
Friday: A stunning rally and three homers by Hunter Renfroe led to a 16-12 Padres win.
Saturday: A third straight four-hit game by Charlie Blackmon sparked Colorado’s 14-8 victory.
Sunday: Another huge San Diego comeback for a 14-13 win, with Jon Gray walking in the go-ahead run in his first career relief appearance.
Here’s a closer look at some of the wackiness:
— The 92 total runs were the most ever in a four-game series in the modern era (since 1900), surpassing the 88 scored by the Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers in May 1929, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. The final tally for the series split: Rockies 48, Padres 44.
— While the 44 runs was the most ever by the Padres in a four-game series, the Rockies’ total of 48 ranked only fourth on their gaudy list.
Charlie Blackmon becomes the first player in the modern era with 15 hits in a 4-game set and just the third player since World War II to do so in any single series.
— The teams combined for 131 hits, the most in a four-game series since 1922, with 15 — yes, 15 — coming from Blackmon alone. That’s the most by a player in a four-game series in the modern era. Blackmon entered the series hitting .305; by the end of the series, his average was up to .336. As a team, the Rockies gained 10 points on their batting average.
— After hitting three home runs Friday, Renfroe added two more Sunday. He bumped his OPS from .877 to .952.
— Sunday’s game was 9-8 Rockies after 2½ innings, and Colorado led 13-8 after six and 13-10 going into the ninth. But Greg Garcia tied it for the Padres with a two-out, two-run triple. The Rockies then chose to intentionally walk the next two hitters, setting up a matchup between Gray and pinch hitter (and pitcher) Matt Strahm. Gray walked Strahm on six pitches to plate the go-ahead run.
This season, teams that have trailed by at least five runs after the sixth inning are 3-251. Two of the three wins were by San Diego in this series, with the other coming Friday night when …
— The Padres trailed 11-5 in the ninth inning, but tied it with a six-run outburst that included Renfroe’s third homer of the game and a two-out, two-run single by Fernando Tatis Jr. to tie it. San Diego scored five more in the 12th inning for the first win in franchise history when trailing by six or more runs entering the ninth inning. The Padres had been 0-766 in such situations, according to Elias research. They also were the first road team to win when entering the ninth trailing by six or more runs since May 2005. Road teams had been 0-3,805 over that span, according to Elias.
— The Padres were the first team to overcome deficits of three or more runs in the ninth inning or later in multiple games of the same series since the Astros did it to the Padres in 1989, according to Elias research.
What might these teams do for an encore? While the Rockies will make a couple of visits to Petco Park, that’s not nearly the hitters’ paradise that Coors is. We’ll have to wait until Sept. 13-15 for the Padres’ return trip to Colorado.