SAN DIEGO — Rockies rookie Noel Cuevas went deep for the first time in his big league career on Monday night, and the outfielder said the milestone was made even sweeter by the timing of the hit in Colorado’s 6-4 win over the Padres.
“That was the first thing in my mind — ‘This is a good homer right here,'” Cuevas said. “We got the lead back, and the momentum went back our way especially since (Daniel) Castro opened up the inning with a homer that tied the game.”
Cuevas’ 362-foot shot to left gave the Rockies’ a 3-2 advantage in the fifth before the homer was thrown back onto the field by a Padres’ fan. The ball was eventually returned to Cuevas, who said he’ll put it in his room next to his first MLB hit.
“(Joey Lucchesi) threw me a changeup the pitch before, and I just told myself to stay on the fastball because they’ve been throwing me plenty and I’ve just been a little late,” Cuevas said. “I was late all night, but on that specific pitch, I was able to get it out front.”
And once back in the clubhouse, it didn’t take long for a veteran to remind the Puerto Rican how Monday’s dinger is only the beginning of a career Cuevas hopes will be chalk full of them.
“I just talked to CarGo and asked him, ‘How many times did you feel like I’ve felt today?’ And he goes, ‘Like 220 times,'” Cuevas said with a laugh. “I’ve got a ways to go, so I’ve just got to do it one at a time.”
Five takeaways from the Rockies’ win on Monday:
No. 1 — Colorado is 26-14 over the past 40 road games, a .650 winning percentage away from Coors Field that ranks tied for fourth in the major leagues in that time span.
No. 2 — Baseball’s longest active slump by a non-pitcher was snapped when Padres’ third baseman Christian Villanueva, hitless in his previous 37 at-bats, singled off Tyler Anderson in the third inning.
No. 3 — Nolan Arenado has reached based in 24 straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in the majors and also the second-longest streak of his career (30 games, April 9-May 10, 2014).
No. 4 — Infielder Pat Valaika, recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on Monday as DJ LeMahieu was sent to the disabled list with a left thumb sprain, recorded a pinch hit in the ninth. Even so, the Rockies are still hitting just .167 (10-for-60) in pinch hit appearances, third-worst in the National League.
No. 5 — Colorado is now 6-2 in road series openers this season.
Quotable — Gerardo Parra talked about the pitch he saw on his decisive 372-foot, three-run homer to right in the sixth. The homer had the highest Statcast hit probability (97 percent) of any ball all night, but Parra wasn’t sure if it would clear the wall: “I didn’t know if it was a fastball or changeup with the way (Padres reliever Kazuhisa Makita) throws. It’s hard to tell the difference in his pitches, but I hit it very good, even though I thought it had a 50-50 chance of going over.”
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