Padres, Rockies meet for the first time since bench-clearing incident
DENVER -- A scheduling oddity created a third early-season series between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.
A question looms over the quirk about whether anything will carryover from the last meeting.
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San Diego opens a three-game series at Colorado Monday night and it will take place less than two weeks after the teams engaged in a benches-clearing brawl.
Monday is the 10th meeting between the two. In the ninth meeting on April 11, Padres starter Luis Perdomo threw a 96 mph fastball behind Nolan Arenado in the third inning, Arenado charged the mound, threw punches at Perdomo and a melee ensued.
Arenado was suspended for five games and finished serving the suspension last week. Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra was suspended four games for his part in the fight.
Parra began serving that suspension Sunday and will miss the three-game series with the Padres.
The Padres were upset that Rockies pitchers hit four of their batters -- one on April 2 and another on April 3 at San Diego, another on April 10 and one more in the second inning after Perdomo hit Rockies shortstop Trevor Story with a pitch in the first. Perdomo won't be involved in this series, since the Padres optioned him to Triple-A El Paso on Thursday.
Asked about the possibility of another incident, Arenado said:
"Hopefully another one doesn't happen. I don't know what's going to happen. If it happens again, I can't really predict that.
"But I hope I don't get thrown at on purpose. We'll see. I don't plan to fight, but I don't know what's going to happen."
Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu said he thought "tensions will still be high" but the teams are likely done fighting. Asked whether the Padres aggression is the result of a young team trying to establish itself, LeMahieu pointed the finger at Padres manager Andy Green.
"I think their manager thinks he has to act a certain way," LeMahieu said. "I don't think that comes from the players. I think the players play the game the right way."
Chad Bettis, who is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA will start for the Rockies against Bryan Mitchell, who is 0-2 with a 5.03 ERA and has 17 walks and seven strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings in his four starts.
The Rockies are unbeaten in Bettis' starts, and he is 2-0, 0.63 in his past two games, allowing one earned run in 14 1/3 innings in that stretch.
Bettis, who is 4-2, 2.96 in 12 starts against the Padres, beat them and Mitchell on April 2 at San Diego.
In Colorado's 7-4 win that night, Bettis gave up two runs in five innings, while Mitchell allowed a season-high five runs in five innings.
Mitchell, who is 0-1, 9.00 in one start against the Rockies, gave up three runs and five hits in six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday in his last start but wasn't involved in the decision as the Padres lost 7-3 in 12 innings.
Losers of three of their past four games, the Rockies (12-11) are 3-6 at Coors Field and have dropped their first three home series this season, losing two of three games in each series. In a 9-7 loss Sunday to the Chicago Cubs, the Rockies scored their most runs since the 7-4 win at San Diego on April 2.
The Padres (8-15) have lost five of their past six games and have scored 18 runs in that stretch. Eric Hosmer was 0-for-3 as the Padres struck out 15 times in Sunday's 4-2 loss at Arizona.
Hosmer is hitting .241 overall but is 3-for-28 since getting two hits in the last meeting with the Rockies.
"It's tough because from a team standpoint, you want to be a guy to break the team (slump) up and get the big hit to loosen everybody up," Hosmer told reporters. "Individually, it's the same battle. You want to get the hit to feel good and gain some ground in the box. Right now, it's just not happening. We got to continue to put the work in and trust it, and hope it turns."
The Rockies are 4-3 against the Padres this season, having won three of four at San Diego and lost two of three at Coors Field. Hosmer went 6-for-12 in the last series at Colorado when the Padres scored 16 runs.
