The San Diego Padres have never had a game like they had on Saturday night in Denver. There hasn't been a game like what was witnessed at Coors Field in more than a century.
San Diego posted its largest margin of victory in franchise history with a 21-0 shellacking of the Colorado Rockies. The shutout was also the first time that a starting pitcher had benefited from such an offensive outburst while holding up his end of the bargain and blanking a team over nine innings since the 1889 season.
Stephen Kolek, a Rule 5 draft pickup before the 2024 season, tossed the complete game shutout in just his second career start.
The @Padres are the first MLB team to score 20+ runs and have their starter throw a 9-inning shutout since the Cincinnati Red Stockings did so against the Baltimore Orioles on August 10, 1889. pic.twitter.com/z9qIEQzlE3
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 11, 2025
"You do have to put a little effort into blocking it out and just the extra reps of trying to stay warm and throwing between innings," Kolek said of maintaining his rhythm. "Whenever they're putting up five to eight runs an inning, it tends to get kind of cold in the dugout so you have to go warm yourself back up and just stay active."
San Diego's bats gave Kolek plenty of time between innings, something that has become all too common in Denver recently. Saturday's blowout marked the sixth consecutive game that the Rockies had surrendered eight or more runs, setting a new franchise record. It was also the fourth straight game that the Rockies have given up 10 or more runs.
Rockies pitchers have been a boost for San Diego's offense for two consecutive games. On Friday night, the Padres logged 13 runs, their most in a single game since August 30, 2024. The 21 runs on Saturday easily eclipsed that.
The Padres' bombardment began early with San Diego putting up five runs off Colorado starter Bradley Blalock in the first inning. It wouldn't get better for the Rockies right-hander as the visitors slugged three homers off him and put up 13 hits and 12 runs before his 84-pitch night was done.
"He just looked a little unsettled today," Rockies manager Bud Black said of Blalock. "He didn't quite get anything going. His breaking ball wasn't sharp. The fastball command was missing."
The Padres have more runs than outs. They lead the Rockies 12-0 in the fourth after Jason Heyward's three-run oppo blast.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) May 11, 2025
Even with Blalock out of the game, San Diego's bats stayed hot and kept making history. A pair of home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts highlighted a four-run fifth inning that pushed San Diego into an elite group in the MLB record books.
the 10th time in recorded MLB history that a team had a 19+ run lead after 5 innings of play pic.twitter.com/4crpVJCTTk
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 11, 2025
San Diego scored in seven of nine innings, with those two shutout innings coming after the Padres had removed Bogaerts, Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado from the game.
With the 21-0 win, the Padres fell just one run short of tying the largest shutout victories in MLB history. Cleveland posted a 22-0 win over the New York Yankees during the 2004 season, while the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 22-0 during the 1975 campaign.
All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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