SAN DIEGO (AP) — It has been a while since the Colorado Rockies played a game like this one.
Yonder Alonso hit his 100th career homer during Colorado's four-run sixth inning and German Márquez pitched eight strong innings for the Rockies, who beat the San Diego Padres 8-3 Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Rockies won for just the seventh time in 26 games. They are 13-31 since June 21.
"That's how you win. You get good starting pitching and timely hitting," manager Bud Black said. "That's what happened today. Obviously, the goal is to make that happen tomorrow; good pitching and timely hitting, and we just haven't had that for the greater part of a month."
Márquez (11-5) gave up three runs and five hits, struck out nine and walked two. He also hit an RBI single in the sixth and had two sacrifice bunts.
"I thought German was outstanding," Black said. "Again, he found his breaking ball. I thought in the middle innings, about the fourth, fifth, sixth, really, really good breaking ball. They were swinging at the ball down below the zone, so that was telling me that out of the hand it was looking like a strike and it was diving down below the zone."
Márquez said his mindset was "to keep the ball down and go as far as I can."
The right-hander improved to 3-0 against San Diego this season and 7-3 on the road overall.
"He's especially tough away from Coors Field," Padres manager Andy Green said. "It's a four-pitch mix. He was comfortable today on the mound. He threw the ball well for them. We took some good swings off of him early and it took us a while to finally mount some decent at-bats later in the game."
Francisco Mejía homered in the second and rookie Josh Naylor connected in the third to give the Padres a 2-0 lead that Alonso erased in the sixth.
Alonso, the brother-in-law of Padres slugger Manny Machado, homered to right with Charlie Blackmon aboard after a leadoff single. It was Alonso's second tying two-run shot in two games, his 10th homer overall this season and third with the Rockies.
"I'm just happy that we got a win," Alonso said. "A very important win, a win that kind of just cuts off that slide. Just a great job by Márquez."
Craig Stammen (6-6) then replaced Dinelson Lamet and allowed Ryan McMahon's double and Ian Desmond's go-ahead single. Stammen got two outs before Márquez singled to center to bring in Desmond.
The Rockies added two runs in the ninth off Carl Edwards Jr., who made his Padres debut. Desmond and Tony Wolters hit consecutive RBI singles.
San Diego rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0 for 4 to end his 14-game hitting streak.
Lamet allowed three hits in five-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
Naylor has played well since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 1, a day after outfielder Franmil Reyes was traded to Cleveland in a three-team deal.
"Seeing pitching every day, you get in a groove and you see the baseball more consistently," Naylor said. "You can read depths better, instead of coming off the bench."
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Peter Lambert (2-3, 6.87 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who counter with RHP Merrill Kelly (7-12, 4.52 ERA).
AROUND THE MAJORS SUNDAY
Masahiro Tanaka and Aroldis Chapman combined on a four-hitter, Brett Gardner had an RBI double, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 Sunday to end a two-game skid.
Tanaka allowed three hits while pitching into the ninth inning, walking none and striking out four. The right-hander was pulled after Brandon Drury singled to begin the ninth. Chapman earned his AL-leading 31st save in 36 opportunities. Toronto's stretch of 15 straight games with a home run ended, as did New York's nine-game streak of multi-homer efforts.
Kevin Pillar hit a tiebreaking triple that scored Evan Longoria with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, closer Will Smith followed with a two-run single in his first career at-bat and the San Francisco Giants rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6. Scooter Gennett homered into McCovey Cove and Mike Yastrzemski also went deep to help the Giants take three of four from the Phillies.
Justin Turner hit two of Los Angeles' four homers, and Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball in the surging Dodgers' 9-3 victory over the Diamondbacks. Turner and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back homers in the first inning as the Dodgers finished 8-2 on a 10-game homestand with yet another dominant performance
Ryan Yarbrough came within an out of his first career shutout, Eric Sogard hit a solo homer and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0. Yarbrough retired his final 14 batters and struck out eight while throwing 8 2/3 innings of three-hit ball, but he was replaced after 99 pitches by Emilio Pagan for the final out.
The Atlanta Braves' bullpen overcame the residue of a punctured fire extinguisher, with four relievers combining to pitch three nervous innings and finish off the Miami Marlins 5-4. The win came less than 24 hours after the Braves allowed seven runs in the final three innings of a 7-6 loss.
Asdrubal Cabrera hit a tiebreaking two-run double against his former team and the Nationals bullpen finally locked down a lead in Flushing, lifting Washington over the streaking New York Mets 7-4. Nationals star Juan Soto sprained his ankle on Cabrera's bases-loaded hit in the seventh inning and left the game.
Kris Bryant capped Chicago's four-run seventh with a three-run homer, and the Cubs rallied to beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-3 on Sunday for a split of their four-game series. Ian Happ added a solo drive in the eighth as the NL Central leaders recovered after falling behind 3-0 in the fifth.
Mike Minor struck out 11 in eight innings, and the Texas Rangers beat Jordan Lyles and the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 to avoid a series sweep. Minor allowed four hits and walked one. José Leclerc finished the four-hitter for his eighth save, securing Texas' second win in six games.
Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler each homered twice and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 10-2 for a split of the four-game series between the worst teams in the AL Central.
Anthony Bemboom hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after Kole Calhoun's solo homer tied it in the eighth, leading the Los Angeles Angels past the Boston Red Sox 5-4 for a split of their four-game series. Shohei OhtaniNhad three hits with a two-run single for Los Angeles.
Rio Ruiz hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to carry the Baltimore Orioles past Houston 8-7, ending the Astros' eight-game winning streak in stunning fashion. After Houston scored three runs in the top of the ninth to go up 7-5, the Orioles answered in the bottom half against closer Roberto Osuna. A sacrifice fly by Chris Davis preceded Ruiz's clutch home run.
Chris Bassitt threw seven sharp innings, Matt Olson homered and the Oakland Athletics beat Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox 2-0. Bassitt permitted four hits, struck out seven and walked two. Olson, Robbie Grossman and Chad Pinder had two hits apiece for the Athletics, who are fighting for position in the AL wild-card race.
Carlos Santana hit a grand slam in the 10th inning, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3 to win the four-game series and forge another tie for the AL Central lead. Santana also had an RBI single in the third.
Lane Thomas hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler also homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-9. St. Louis rallied from an 8-4 deficit to sweep the three-game series and move into second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs.