Pitching-strong Padres match up again with runs-averse Rockies

Prior to Saturday night, the 2015 Oakland Athletics were the last team to record five shutouts in the first 15 games of a season.

They now have company, thanks to the San Diego Padres. Their 2-0 blanking of the Colorado Rockies not only let them match those A’s of Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir and Drew Pomeranz but enabled them to improve to 9-0 at home.

San Diego will aim for a third straight series sweep at Petco Park on Sunday when it finishes its weekend series with Colorado.

Pitching has been the key ingredient in the Padres’ 12-3 start. Four of their five starters have been part of combined shutouts and their bullpen, which owns MLB’s lowest earned-run average, hasn’t allowed a run in eight of the team’s nine home games.

“All about the team,” said right-hander Nick Pivetta, who tossed seven scoreless innings in each of the whitewashes of Atlanta and Colorado. “Guys are doing what they do. We’re getting runs when we need them, big plays when we need them. It’s just a good team effort.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. gave San Diego the only run it needed with a leadoff homer in the first on Saturday night, then preserved the victory with a leaping catch of Kris Bryant’s two-out liner in the ninth that was ticketed for the right field wall and might have plated two runs to tie the game.

“We have multiple ways to win a ball game,” Tatis said. “Right now, we’re clicking in every single area.”

Michael King (2-0, 4.05 ERA) will try to stretch the Padres’ unbeaten streak at Petco Park to 14 games, dating back to last September. He’s coming off a 5-4 triumph Monday night at the Athletics, allowing eight hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. King is 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA in three career appearances against the Rockies.

The Rockies will counter with left-hander Kyle Freeland (0-2, 3.79), who last worked on Tuesday night, falling 7-1 at home against Milwaukee. Freeland gave up eight hits and five runs in 6 1/3 innings, walking none and whiffing five. He’s 7-8 with a 4.56 ERA in 24 career games against San Diego.

Most Colorado starters have pitched at least respectably, if not downright well, for a fair chunk of the first 15 games. But the team simply hasn’t produced offensively as one would expect. It has scored an MLB-low 40 runs while going 3-11.

Perhaps the Rockies’ best player, center fielder Brenton Doyle, has been glued to the bench in the series’ first two games with a quad injury. His status for Sunday’s game wasn’t known after Saturday night’s contest.

Colorado has just seven hits in two games, five of them by second baseman Kyle Farmer. Multiple players believe the team is trying too hard to succeed in a sport that can penalize max effort.

“In reality, all it takes is just being yourself,” Freeland said. “Be the best version of yourself every single day, pull for your teammates and work toward a single goal of winning a baseball game.”

–Field Level Media