Padres Survive Colorado's 7th-Inning Surge, Win 8-7 on Walk-Off Sac Fly
Fernando Tatis Jr. went a perfect 5-for-5 with 2 RBI, and San Diego still needed a ninth-inning sacrifice fly to hold off Colorado 8-7. The Rockies led 7-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth before a fielding error handed the Padres the tying run — and the game never felt safe after that.
San Diego jumped out early, scoring twice in the second on a Campusano double and a Tatis Jr. single that plated Bogaerts. Colorado answered hard in the third. Castro launched a 395-foot homer to right center, then Moniak went 406 feet the other way for a two-run shot that flipped the score to 4-2 Rockies. The Padres clawed back methodically — a Machado single in the fifth, a Tatis Jr. single in the sixth — and by the end of six innings it was knotted at four.
The seventh inning was the game's most chaotic stretch. Colorado rebuilt a two-run lead on a Tovar double and a Moniak double, going up 6-4. San Diego answered immediately: Merrill singled home Machado, and then a fielding error by third baseman Castro allowed France to score and tie it at six. The Rockies reclaimed the lead in the eighth when Carrigg scored on a Tovar walk, making it 7-6. That lead lasted about three batters. Machado singled to right, Cronenworth scored on a fielding error by right fielder McCarthy, and Machado moved to second — the win probability swung from 38% to 66% on that single play. Colorado's defense gave the game away twice in the final two innings, and that's the story of the night.
The ninth was brief and brutal for Colorado. Bogaerts hit a sacrifice fly to center, Merrill scored, and the Rockies even challenged the call — it was upheld. San Diego wins 8-7. Tatis Jr.'s perfect night looks like the headliner, but the real difference was Colorado's glove work falling apart when it mattered most. Michael King gave San Diego six innings of work — 6 H, 4 ER, 6 K — and Mason Miller closed it out with a pristine ninth: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K. Moniak finished 2-for-5 with a homer, 3 RBI, and a double for the Rockies, and Machado went 3-for-4 with the go-ahead RBI for San Diego. On paper this was a competitive game. In execution, it appears Colorado handed it over.