David Peralta hits a homer and robs another as the Padres beat the Rockies 10-2 for a series win

SAN DIEGO (AP) — David Peralta hit a three-run home run an inning after robbing Sam Hilliard of a shot and the San Diego Padres beat Colorado 10-2 Sunday for their first series win against the lowly Rockies in three tries this season.

Kyle Higashioka and All-Star Jurickson Profar also homered for the Padres, who had lost five straight games to the Rockies until winning 3-2 on Saturday night. San Diego improved to an MLB-best 11-3 since the All-Star break.

The Rockies had the chance to clinch the season series, which they lead 6-4 with a three-game series remaining in Denver in two weeks. Colorado came into Sunday with the NL’s worst record, 41-71.

Knuckleballer Matt Waldron (7-9) pitched 5 2/3 strong innings, holding the Rockies to one run and two hits while striking out seven and walking two. He allowed Brenton Doyle’s homer leading off the fourth, his 19th.

Higashioka homered to left leading off the fifth, his 13th, to give San Diego a 2-1 lead against former Padres left-hander Cal Quantrill (7-8). Profar homered to right with one out, his 19th. It’s one shy of his career high.

The Padres then blew it open in the sixth. Justin Lawrence, who relieved Quantrill with one out in the fifth, hit Xander Bogaerts with a pitch opening the inning and walked rookie Jackson Merrill. Peralta then homered to right, his third, for a 6-1 lead.

Peralta got his glove above the wall in right to rob Hilliard of a homer leading off the fifth while Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth each had two hits and two RBIs.

“I think both,” Peralta said when asked whether it felt better to hit a homer or rob one. “Anything to do to help the team is good, so today was a good game for the whole team. Great teams find a way to win and that’s what we’ve been doing. We’re going to continue to do that.”

He said his big catch “was tough a little bit, and then I was like, ‘I’m going for it.’”

“I think I hit the soft part of the wall because it was kind of tough. But it was good and I was happy I made the play for Waldron,” Peralta said.

Said Waldron: “It was incredible. I didn’t know he hit it that far. I thought I got in there enough to get some weak contact, but unbelievable, especially the replay, that’s awesome. I’m glad he did that.”

Waldron bounced back from a tough outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, when he allowed five runs in the first inning of a game the Padres rallied to win 6-5 in 10 innings.

“My emphasis was definitely on the first inning,” Waldron said. “I wanted to come out ready to go a little bit better, just give our offense more of a chance and capture the momentum early. Ultimately, just trying to win, whatever that looks like.”

He said his knuckleball “felt great coming out of the hand. When I have a good release point going, it tends to be better, so I feel like that was going.”

The Padres seemed poised for a big second inning against Quantrill but scored only one run, on Merrill’s double to right-center. They stranded two runners.

To lead off the seventh for Colorado, Jacob Stallings homered off Adrian Morejon, his seventh.

Quantrill allowed three runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out two.

Quantrill was drafted by the Padres in 2016 and made his big-league debut in 2019 before being sent to Cleveland in 2020 in the Mike Clevinger deal. Waldron was sent to the Padres in November 2020 as the player to be named in that deal.

Quantrill was traded to Colorado in November.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: DH Charlie Blackmon wasn’t in the lineup a second straight game with a bruised left eye after getting hit on the left wrist and face by an errant throw by Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts on Friday night.

Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (3-4, 5.64 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday night in the opener of a home series against the New York Mets, who will go with RHP Luis Severino (7-4, 3.93).

Padres: Haven’t announced their starter for Tuesday night when they open a series at the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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