DENVER (AP) — Jake Arrieta got clobbered by Colorado and left with an injury in his Padres debut, and the Rockies beat San Diego 7-5 Wednesday.
C.J. Cron had two hits and three RBIs and Trevor Story homered for the Rockies, who scored five runs in 3 1/3 innings against Arrieta before he departed with an injured left hamstring.
Arrieta (5-12) was signed Monday after being placed on waivers by the Chicago Cubs. He allowed seven hits and let his ERA rise to 7.13 on Dom Núnez’s solo homer before grabbing his hamstring and exiting the game.
The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner said he felt the hamstring when he landed on his left leg, but he thinks the injury is minor and he shouldn’t miss much time.
“I’ve had two of these in the past that were significantly worse than this one,” Arrieta said. “Testing the strength with the trainers postgame, all the tests were good. Strength is at a pretty high level, which was something that wasn’t the case with the two previous hamstrings that I had, and I came back pretty quick from those two.”
Arrieta was signed to help bolster a rotation hit hard by injuries, and he was planning on pitching deeper into the game before the hamstring flared up.
“Felt great, felt really good,” said Arrieta, who also singled and scored a run. “More than capable of going upwards of 100 pitches. That was the game plan going into the start. Would have loved to give the team at least two more innings.”
Wil Myers homered twice for the slumping Padres. San Diego has lost seven of eight but still leads Cincinnati by 1 1/2 games for the second NL wild card.
“The standings are what they are, but the standings will be different in a month and a half from now,” Myers said.
The Padres dropped four straight before avoiding a sweep at Arizona on Sunday but suffered their seventh straight loss at Coors Field. Colorado swept two straight home series from San Diego.
“We haven’t been great on the road, we haven’t been good against some of the teams with below .500 records,” manager Jayce Tingler said. “This place is a little bit different. It’s extremely tough to win here.”
The Rockies took a 3-0 lead in the first on Cron’s two-run double and Ryan McMahon’s single. Myers hit his first homer, a two-run shot, in the second, and Manny Machado drove in Arrieta in the third to tie it.
Myers’ 15th homer in the fourth evened it again before Núnez’s shot.
Story’s 16th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth, gave Colorado a three-run cushion.
Ben Bowden (2-2) allowed one run in an inning and Daniel Bard, the fifth Rockies reliever in the game, pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 26 chances.
The bullpen allowed just two runs over the last six innings.
“The five guys who pitched, they got punched a little but they put their dukes up and responded back with some swings of their own,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: LHP Matt Strahm was placed on the 10-day injured list with right knee inflammation. Strahm, who started Tuesday in a bullpen game, missed the first four months of the season right patella tendon surgery.
Rockies: To make room for starter Chi Chi González on the active roster, OF Yonathan Daza (left thumb laceration) was placed on the 10-day injured list. ... OF Raimel Tapia (toe) is improving but there is no timetable for a return, Black said.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Colorado outfielder Connor Joe has performed well since moving atop of the lineup. He reached base in his first at-bat in all three games — a home run on Monday, a single on Tuesday and a leadoff walk Wednesday. He scored the first run Monday and Tuesday and was thrown out at home Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Padres: LHP Blake Snell (6-4, 4.80) opens a three-game home series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (9-7, 4.09) returns from the paternity list to open a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
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