Sweeping a four-game series against your division rival and improving your record to 10-6, tied for the second-best mark in Major League Baseball, should be a reason to celebrate. The San Diego Padres, however, are not feeling as great as they usually would be on Sunday night. The Friars beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 to take all four games of their series at Petco Park, but they might be without one of their top starting pitchers for a while. Nick Pivetta, San Diego’s Opening Day starter and one of their best arms since he arrived prior to last year, set down the first nine hitters he faced on Sunday but in the 4th inning something was wrong. His fastball velocity dipped from 95 MPH to 92 MPH and he lost command of his curve. Visibly upset, Pivetta had a quick meeting on the mound with manager Craig Stammen then left with a member of the Padres training staff. The immediate diagnosis was right elbow tightness, something that is always scary for a pitcher. If there is a reason for hope it’s that, in 2024 with the Red Sox, Pivetta was placed on the injured list with an elbow flexor tendon strain in early April and was able to return five weeks later with no ill effects. Pivetta wasn’t the only pitcher who had his day cut short. Rockies scheduled starter Kyle Freeland was scratched before he threw a single pitch due to soreness in his pitching shoulder, something nobody in the ballpark knew until reliever Jimmy Hergert started warming up in the bullpen during the top of the 1st inning. Hergert also started Thursday night’s game, making him the rare pitcher to start twice in one series. Hergert hit leadoff many Ramon Laureano with a pitch. Fernando Tatis Jr., back at 2nd base again, lined a single to left and Jackson Merrill moved them over with a sacrifice bunt. Manny Machado brought home Laureano with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. In the 2nd inning the Friars manufactured another run against Chase Dollander. Ty France led off with a double, moved to 3rd on a sac bunt, and scored on a Freddy Fermin sac fly for a 2-0 lead. It’s great to be able to manufacture runs but that is a lot of steps to take. In the 4th inning France streamlined the process, launching a missile 427 feet into the bullpen in left-centerfield. The solo shot was his first of the year and it put the Friars on top 3-0. Kyle Hart followed Pivetta and, after a hit batter and a walk, allowed a 2-run double to former Padres catcher Brett Sullivan, one of only two hits the Rockies were able to muster. Hart finished 2.1 innings before David Morgan kept building on his early-season case for a spot in the All-Star Game. Morgan struck out four of the six batters he faced and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10.1 innings this year. While they were holding the Rockies hitters at bay, the suddenly slugging San Diego offense padded the lead thanks to a 2-run homer from Ramon Laureano and a monster solo shot by Jackson Merrill that put it out of reach. The Padres have a Monday off at home before opening a three-game series at Petco Park on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners. ...read more read less