Rockies win seventh straight, sweep Padres, behind starring turns by Austin Gomber, Jordan Beck
Denver Post
SAN DIEGO — Thirteen months ago, Rockies lefty Austin Gomber was lost.
He had a 0-4 record and a 12.12 ERA. He made an emotional admission, saying that being part of the 2021 trade that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis had gotten into his head.
That Gomber is long gone.
On Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, he blanked the Padres for six innings as the Rockies rolled to an 8-0 victory, their seventh consecutive win.
The Rockies, riding their longest winning streak since 2019, swept the Padres for the first time in a three-game series in San Diego since April 12-14, 2013.
Gomber received oodles of support, especially from rookie left fielder Jordan Beck, who broke out in a big way. Beck hit his first major league homer, drove in five runs and came up a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Colorado pounded the Padres for 12 hits.
Gomber gave up two measly singles, struck out five, walked two and whittled his ERA to 3.02.
While Colorado’s offense has finally emerged from hibernation, the starting pitching is the foundation of the team’s 180-degree turn. Over the last 12 games, the rotation has a 3.34 ERA. During the seven-game winning streak, the ERA is a minuscule 1.96.
Beck, who extended his hitting streak to five games, began his day with a two-run double off Michael King in Colorado’s three-run second inning. Center fielder Brenton Doyle led off the inning with a 433-foot blast to the second deck in left field, his fifth homer of the season.
Beck’s first career homer, a two-run shot, arrived in the sixth and put Colorado in front, 7-0. Beck ripped into Jeremiah Estrada’s 1-1, 95.5 mph sweeper, sending it 382 feet and into the left-field seats. Beck added a single in the eighth.
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