DENVER (AP) - To fire up Nolan Arenado , just give him a day off.
His manager mandated he sit a game, and Arenado stewed over it for a night before taking it out on the baseball.
Arenado lined three homers as part of his five-hit afternoon and tied a career-high with seven RBIs, helping the Colorado Rockies complete a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with an 18-4 victory Wednesday.
“I don’t like days off,” Arenado said. “I know they’re important and, obviously, I’m playing well after them.”
That’s an understatement. In games after not being in the lineup this season, the All-Star third baseman is hitting .583 with four homers and 13 RBIs.
“We’ll have to look at that a little closer,” joked manager Bud Black, whose team has scored 49 runs during its four-game win streak. “We don’t want to give him every other day off.”
Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon also homered on a scorching day when the Rockies had a season-high 21 hits. Gerardo Parra ran his streak of reaching base to 10 straight plate appearances over three games before flying out in the fifth. He finished with four singles.
Arenado had a pair of RBI singles to start the game, followed by solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings, and a three-run homer in the sixth. He had a chance at a fourth homer in the eighth and lined out to left.
“I was trying to hit a homer. That’s probably why I didn’t,” Arenado said. “The at-bats before that, I was just trying to hit the ball hard and stay on top of the baseball. They went out.”
Jon Gray (3-1) kept the Padres in check until running out of steam. The right-hander allowed all four of his runs in the sixth - his last inning of work.
Padres starter Clayton Richard (5-10) lasted just 3 2/3 innings and gave up 11 runs, 10 earned, inflating his ERA from 4.75 to 5.35. He also matched a team record by allowing 14 hits.
“I felt good today, unfortunately,” Richard said. “It seemed like one of those days where it wasn’t meant to be.”
This illustrated the kind of offensive afternoon it was for the Rockies: Blackmon’s leg cramped up on a foul ball in the sixth. He consulted with Black and the trainer before leaving the game. Inheriting an 0-2 count, pinch-hitter Pat Valaika promptly lined an RBI single.
In all, five players had at least three hits as the Rockies scored in every inning but the eighth. Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 14 games and Gray even contributed with an RBI single.
“They hit balls through holes. And they blooped balls in and they hit balls off walls and they hit balls out of the ballpark,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “Literally, every conceivable type of hit they could get, they had today.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Manager Andy Green is hopeful OF Hunter Renfroe (strained neck) will come off the DL on Thursday. … Green said RHP Jarred Cosart had a procedure to clean up his elbow and will miss the rest of the season.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis will start Sunday for Triple-A Albuquerque as he works his way back from testicular cancer. The plan is for him to go four innings and throw 60 pitches. … OF David Dahl (stress reaction in rib cage) was reinstated from the 60-day DL and optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday.
QUITE A SERIES
Parra finished the series 9 for 12. He’s batting .556 since returning from a strained right quadriceps on July 7.
“I feel good right now. Just continue working like I work,” Parra said.
THIS & THAT
The Padres recalled outfielder Franchy Cordero from Triple-A El Paso and optioned right-hander Jose Valdez to Triple-A. Cordero started Wednesday and went 0 for 2. … 3B Cory Spangenberg had a three-run homer in the sixth. … The last Padres pitcher to allow 14 hits was Andy Ashby in 1999. … The Rockies record of reaching base in consecutive plate appearances is 12 by Eric Young in 1993.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Jhoulys Chacin (8-7, 4.33 ERA) starts Thursday when the Padres open a four-game series in San Francisco. The Giants will throw lefty Madison Bumgarner (0-3, 3.18).
Rockies: After a day off, Colorado begins a three-game series against Pittsburgh. The Rockies will send RHP Jeff Hoffman (6-1, 4.33) to the mound Friday. RHP Trevor Williams (3-4, 4.69) will pitch for the Pirates.
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