SAN DIEGO - In baseball, early-season assumptions can be formed quickly. And as the Rockies proved Monday at Petco Park, they can also be questioned twice as fast.
Nolan Arenado‘s early power drought? Over, as the third baseman went deep for the second straight game in Colorado's convincing 5-2 victory over the Padres.
Back-end rotation questions? Quelled, at least for a night. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela, fresh off the injured list, delivered a strong performance with 6 a innings of one-run ball in his first start of 2019.
And while the offense didn't put together any particular hit brigades, Colorado's hitters had quality at-bats on the whole while the bullpen shut the door on the club's first consecutive wins since opening the season in Miami.
Ian Desmond initially gave Colorado a 2-0 lead with his double in the second, and that was followed by his first homer of the year on the first pitch of the seventh inning to make the score 4-1.
The center fielder's big night - when he became one of six Rockies to hit six or more homers at Petco Park with Colorado - epitomized an offense that chipped away at San Diego southpaw Joey Lucchesi. Beyond Arenado's tone-setting dinger in the sixth inning to push the score to 3-1, Charlie Blackmon also had an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Senzatela's lone blemish came by way of a Franmill Reyes solo homer in the fourth, but besides that, the Rockies were in control. They, behind strong starting pitching and a couple of big bats, looked like they knew how to win as they did in German Marquez‘s one-hit, complete game shutout Sunday against the Giants to snap the team's eight-game losing skid.
Carlos Estevez pitched 1 a clean innings of relief following Senzatela, touching 99 mph with his heater and flashing effective high-80s offspeed to keep hitters honest. Wade Davis then finished off the win with his first save of the season, albeit following Wil Meyers' mammoth 428-foot solo blast off Scott Oberg earlier in the ninth.
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