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Kemp homers, doubles twice as Shields, Padres beat Rockies
DENVER (AP) -- James Shields helped the San Diego Padres end a disappointing trip with a win.
Shields pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning and Matt Kemp homered and doubled twice to lead the Padres past the Colorado Rockies 10-4 Sunday.
Yangervis Solarte, Jedd Gyorko and Cory Spangenberg also homered for San Diego, which finished 3-6 on its penultimate trip. Justin Upton had three of the Padres' 15 hits and drove in three runs.
Shields gave San Diego's tired bullpen a break with another strong outing. He gave up a home run to Charlie Blackmon in the first and didn't yield another hit until Justin Morneau doubled in the seventh.
He retired 19 of 21 batters before Morneau's hit and didn't let a runner past second base through the first six innings.
"He gave up a home run and really settled in. That was impressive," Padres manager Pat Murphy said. "It was what was needed today."
Shields (13-6) kept Colorado's potent offense in check for most of the game. He is four innings shy of reaching 200 innings for the ninth straight season. He has eclipsed that mark in each of his full seasons in the majors.
"This is what I train myself to do, to go deep in games," Shields said. "Every year of my career, you look in August and September, my numbers have been halfway decent, and my stamina's been there. That's a testament to my workouts."
He is 4-0 with a 3.69 ERA in his last five starts. His eight strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings raising his season total to 208.
"He was as dominant as we've seen him," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He had real good fastball command, had a good breaking ball and his changeup is always a weapon for him, and it was today."
San Diego led 10-1 before Colorado scored three times in the seventh. With two outs, Shields walked two batters and threw two wild pitches, allowing Morneau to score.
Bud Norris came in and threw another wild pitch ahead of an RBI single by pinch-hitter Ben Paulsen.
"He absolutely set the tone of the game," Murphy said of Shields. "He pitched like a veteran that's been there before and this team needed that in a huge way. Now his line isn't going to look great and that upsets me, but the team knows."
Kemp, who was 3 for 29 in the first eight games of the trip, struck out in his first at-bat. He hit his 23rd homer in the third and doubled in the next two innings.
Kyle Kendrick (6-13) gave up all four Padres homers. He has allowed a majors-most 32 home runs despite spending six weeks on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.
INNING AFTER INNING
San Diego scored in each of the first six innings for the third time in franchise history, according to STATS, Inc. The other two were Aug, 15, 1986, at Cincinnati and July 25, 1990, vs. Cincinnati.
"We were driving the ball and hit a few balls out of the park early," Upton said. "We just kept adding on runs."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Padres: RHP Casey Kelly (strained right forearm) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session Sunday. He is to throw again Friday.
Rockies: LHP Yohan Flande was experiencing soreness the morning after taking a line drive off his left knee on Saturday. He escaped serious injury, Weiss said. "The ball hit him a good place," Weiss said. "If it hit him in the kneecap he would have had problems."
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Tyson Ross (10-10) gets the start Tuesday against San Francisco when the Padres begin a nine-game homestand, their last this season.
Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (0-1) will try for his first major league victory when the Rockies open a four-game series against the Pirates. It will be Gray's eighth career start, all since Aug. 4.
