Major League Baseball
Colorado 16, San Diego 0
When: 8:10 PM ET, Saturday, September 16, 2017
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 68°
Umpires: Home - Gerry Davis, 1B - Cory Blaser, 2B - Roberto Ortiz, 3B - Tony Randazzo
Attendance: 48247

DENVER -- Tyler Anderson made a triumphant return to the rotation Saturday night as the Colorado Rockies pounded the San Diego Padres 16-0 and gained ground in their pursuit of the postseason.

The win was the 10th in 13 games for the Rockies, who lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 3 1/2 games and the St. Louis Cardinals by 4 1/2 in the race for the second National League wild-card spot. The Brewers and Cardinals lost Saturday.

The Padres have lost a season-high tying five straight games and have been outscored 44-4 in that stretch.

The Rockies scored their most runs in franchise history in a shutout victory, surpassing their 13-0 romp Sept. 16, 2007 against the Florida Marlins.

Anderson (5-5), making his first start for the Rockies since June 25, held the Padres hitless for 5 2/3 innings and was a victim of his pitch count rather than any damage by the Padres. Manager Bud Black said Anderson was going to come out after the sixth, regardless. He allowed two hits in six innings with two walks and three strikeouts and left after throwing 73 pitches, 48 strikes.

"He was very efficient," Black said. "He wasn't stressed a lot. There weren't a lot of intense pitches per se, but I do like the fact that he got his pitch count into the 70s and his next start, we should feel comfortable with him going 80-90 pitches, for sure."

Manuel Margot singled for the Padres' first hit, chopping a ball that landed less than 15 feet in front of home plate. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy pounced on the ball, but the speedy Margot beat his throw. The announced sellout crowd of 48,247, hopeful of seeing the second no-hitter at Coors Field and first by a Rockies pitcher, gave Anderson a loud ovation.

Charlie Blackmon, back in the lineup after a day off, homered and drove in four runs, giving him a National League-record 92 RBIs as a leadoff man -- Hall of Famer Craig Biggio set the old record of 88 RBIs leading off with Houston in 1998 -- and 93 RBIs overall. After Blackmon hit a three-run homer in the sixth off Miguel Diaz in the sixth to make it 10-0, Diaz hit DJ LeMahieu on the left biceps with a 1-0 fastball clocked at 94.9 mph after coming inside with the first pitch.

LeMahieu yelled at Diaz as he walked toward first and was restrained by catcher Luis Torrens. Both benches and both bullpens emptied and Diaz was ejected by home plate umpire and crew chief Gerry Davis.

"You give up a big home run, and you hit a guy two pitches later, that's universally understood that that's a time guys throw at someone," Padres manager Andy Green said. "We weren't throwing at anybody at that time. Miguel Diaz wasn't trying to do that. He's a young kid on the mound. He struggles with command from time to time."

LeMahieu wasn't available after the game, but Blackmon, perhaps LeMahieu's closest friend on the team, saw the situation differently.

"It looked bad," Blackmon said. "I don't really know what the intent was; I don't think it's going to do me any good to try and guess. But I will say DJ has a really good idea of what's going on in baseball games and if ever I am confused about was something right or wrong or should we have done this or that, DJ's the guy I go ask. So if he's upset about something, I'm just going to fall in line behind him and assume he's right."

Pinch hitter Pat Valaika belted a grand slam in the six-run seventh. Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the fifth, and the Rockies roughed up former teammate Jordan Lyles (1-3) with a five-run third when they batted around, stoking the rally with six hits. Lyles spent 3 1/2 years with the Rockies before they released him Aug. 1 after he went 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA in 33 relief appearances.

Anderson underwent surgery to clean out his left knee July 3. He made three rehab appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque and boosted his pitch count to 59 on Monday when he threw four scoreless innings in relief of starter Kyle Freeland. He has pitched 10 scoreless innings since returning to the Rockies.

"He spotted the fastball well," Black said. "The change was effective. I think as the game went on, his little slider-cutter was effective to right-handed hitters. And he backdoored a couple to the outside part of the plate as well. It was a good mix."

NOTES: Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado drove in his 125th run, making him the first player in Rockies history to drive in at least 125 runs in three consecutive seasons. ... PH Pat Valaika hit his fourth pinch-hit homer of the season. It was the 11th pinch-hit grand slam in Rockies history and their first at Coors Field since Todd Helton's on April 29, 2012, against the New York Mets. ... Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon's double and homer gave him 82 extra-base hits and a National League record as a leadoff hitter. Jimmy Rollins set the previous record with 80 extra-base hits for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007. ... Padres 1B Wil Myers left the game with a right knee contusion. He fouled a ball off the knee in the sixth before striking out. ... Rockies RHP Tyler Chatwood will pitch Wednesday at San Francisco on regular rest as they skip Chad Bettis, who has struggled lately. With a day off Monday, they will go with four starters one turn through the rotation. ... Padres IF/OF Jose Pirela has not progressed yet to where he can take batting practice and remains day-to-day with a sprained left pinkie.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
San Diego   Colorado
Jordan Lyles Player Tyler Anderson
Loss W/L Win
4.0 IP 6.0
1 Strikeouts 3
8 Hits 2
15.75 ERA 0.00
Hitting
San Diego   Colorado
Jabari Blash Player Carlos Gonzalez
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 2
0 HR 1
1 TB 6
.333 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
San Diego 3 0 3 .103 8 8 0 3 0 0
Colorado 17 3 28 .459 17 4 15 6 1 0