In his second Major League Baseball start for the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Saturday, Stephen Kolek achieved a remarkable feat by pitching a complete-game shutout, leading to a decisive 21-0 victory for the Padres.

Kolek retired the first five Colorado batters he faced and didn’t allow his first hit until Nick Martini singled with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Throughout his appearance, he remained dominant, allowing only five hits over nine innings. His final stats showed nine innings pitched without giving up any runs, yielding just five hits, walking two, and striking out seven.

San Diego took an early lead by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. The highlight of the inning was a two-run homer hit by Gavin Sheets that soared into the second deck in right field, covering 439 feet. This powerful shot gave the Padres a commanding 5-0 advantage.


In the second inning, San Diego scored a run and extended their advantage further during the top of the third. Following his return from the injured list where he had been sidelined with a fractured rib, Jake Cronenworth started strong for his second game back. He hit a solo homerun deep into the second deck in right field, increasing San Diego’s lead to 7-0.


In the top of the fourth inning, the Padres extended their lead further. Against Rockies’ starter Bradley Blalock, they tacked on an additional five runs. Two of those runs were scored when Jason Heyward hit a three-run home run, forcing Blalock out of the game as San Diego took a commanding 12-0 lead. This three-run blast marked Heyward’s first such home run of the season for the Padres.


Before the inning concluded, San Diego scored an additional three runs, taking a commanding 15-0 lead. In the subsequent top of the fifth, after another scoreless turn for Kolek in the bottom of the fourth, Xander Bogaerts launched a leadoff home run, extending their advantage to 16-0.


Fernando Tatis Jr. contributed the second three-run homer of both the game and evening when he launched one over to the left-field bleachers with two outs during the top half of the fifth inning. Reliever Juan Mejia took over for Blalock and pitched 1 1/3 innings, yielding seven total runs—four earned—from six hits along with walking two batters and giving up two more home runs.


Sheets contributed an additional run for the Padres during the top of the eighth inning. Facing Jacob Stallings, who had taken up pitching as a positional substitute, Sheets smacked an RBI double into center field. This allowed Cronenworth to cross home plate, extending San Diego’s lead to 21-0.

Merrill spearheaded the Padres’ attack and went 4-for-6 at bat, contributing two RBIs and scoring twice. Additionally, five other players from San Diego notched up three RBIs each during this match. The team amassed an impressive total of 24 hits throughout the game.

The Padres aim to complete a series sweep against the Rockies on Sunday at 12:10 p.m.