Brendan Rodgers, Charlie Blackmon homer to help Rockies beat Padres 7-3

DENVER (AP) — Brendan Rodgers and Charlie Blackmon homered, Cal Quantrill pitched effectively for five innings and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 7-3 on Friday night.

Jordan Beck added three hits, including an RBI single, for the Rockies, who cooled off the surging Padres. Before Friday, the Padres had won 19 of their 23 games dating back to the All-Star break, including 10 of their last 11.

Ha-Seong Kim and Xander Bogaerts homered for the Padres. Jackson Merrill had a pair of hits, including a one-out triple in the sixth, but the Rockies stranded him by turning the third of their four double plays in the game. “With an off day (Thursday), you know you wanted to come out swinging," Rodgers said. “Everyone had a good rest. It was good to get up early on a team like that, that’s hot. It felt good to get those four in the first and we chipped away for a few more and held on to that lead.”

Quantrill (8-8) allowed three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking two in his first start in 12 days. Rockies relievers Angel Chivilli, Lucas Gilbreath, Tyler Kinley and Victor Vodnik combined to pitch four scoreless innings.

“I made some bad pitches in the first and second but I think we settled in pretty good after that,” said Quantrill, who skipped a start on the recommendation of team trainers due to an episode of forearm tightness.

“Kind of just mixed it up enough. I didn’t rely too heavily on the splitter or the fastball, which was a nice change of pace. Probably won’t be the best start ever but we’ve talked about the importance of winning at home. That’s a team that’s really hot right now. We beat them, so overall, I think it’s a good day.”

For San Diego, Matt Waldron (7-10) allowed seven runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Waldron came in having won both of his previous starts against Colorado this season but found himself in trouble from the start. He walked Charlie Blackmon to start the first and Ezequiel Tovar followed with a single. One out later, Ryan McMahon singled to drive in Colorado’s first run and Rodgers then drove a 77-mph knuckleball deep into the left field bleachers for his 10th homer of the season to give the Rockies a 4-0 lead.

“That first inning was tough,” Waldron said. “It hurts to let my teammates down, especially so early, and just give the momentum away. But I've got to wear it. I'll get real with whatever work I need to do to give myself the best chance to perform out there and win again.”

Kim connected for his 11th homer, a two-run drive off Quantrill in the top of the second, before Blackmon answered with a two-run shot off Waldron in the bottom of the third to rebuild the Colorado advantage to 6-2.

The Padres added a run on Bogaerts’ home run to start the fourth and Beck’s third single of the night scored Michael Toglia, aboard with a double, in the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: OF Fernando Tatis Jr., sidelined since mid-June with a right femoral stress reaction, is steadily improving but there’s still no timetable for his return. “He’s definitely getting there,” manager Mike Shildt said. “We still want some healing to take place before we ramp up. Once he ramps up, he’ll be getting ready pretty quickly, I would imagine.”

ROSTER SHAKEUP

In the latest sign the Rockies remain committed to a youth movement, the team released veteran catcher Elías Díaz and selected the contract of rookie catcher Drew Romo from Triple-A Albuquerque. Díaz, 33, was the Rockies' regular catcher for most of the last five years and went to the All-Star game last season, earning the MVP award after homering to win the game for the NL. Romo was the 35th overall selection in the 2020 draft and ranked the No. 9 prospect in baseball by MLB.com.

UP NEXT

Padres RHP Dylan Cease (11-9, 3.41 ERA) will be seeking a fourth straight winning decision when he takes the mound Saturday night against Colorado, which is slated to counter with Kyle Freeland (3-4, 5.75 ERA).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado grounds out against Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Victor Vodnik to end a baseball game Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Victor Vodnik gestures after getting San Diego Padres' Jurickson Profar to hit into a double play in the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies' Ezequiel Tovar, left, congratulates Charlie Blackmon, right, who crosses home plate after hitting a two-run home run off San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Waldron in the second inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

San Diego Padres' Jackson Merrill follows the flight of his triple off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Angel Chivilli in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Victor Vodnik works against the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers (7) is congratulated after a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight and Wednesday hit a U.N. school sheltering displaced Palestinian families as well as two homes, killing at least 34 people, including 19 women and children, hospital officials said.

The deadliest strike came Wednesday afternoon, targeting the U.N.’s Al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants planning attacks from inside the school. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

At least 14 dead from the strike, including two children and a woman, were brought to Awda and al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals nearby, officials from the facilities said. At least 18 people were wounded in the strike, they said.

One of the children killed was the daughter of Momin Selmi, a member of Gaza’s civil defense agency, which works rescuing wounded and bodies after strikes, the agency said in a statement. Selmi hadn’t seen his daughter for 10 months, since he remained in north Gaza to keep working while his family fled south, the agency said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes by Israeli offensives and evacuation orders are living in Gaza’s schools. The al-Jaouni school, one of many in Gaza run by the U.N. agency for Palestinians UNWRA, has been hit by multiple strikes over the course of the war.

Israel frequently bombs schools, saying they are being used by Hamas militants. It blames Hamas for civilian casualties from its strikes, saying its fighters base themselves and operate within dense residential neighborhoods.

More than 90% of Gaza’s school buildings have been severely or partially damaged in strikes, and more than half the schools housing displaced people have been hit, according to a survey in July by the Education Cluster, a collection of aid groups led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

Israel’s 11-month-old campaign in Gaza has killed at least 41,084 Palestinians and wounded another 95,029, the territory’s Health Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and militants. Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an Israeli strike killed five people in the northern town of Tubas, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The military said it was targeting a group of militants. The ministry did not specify whether the dead were militants or civilians.

Israel has stepped up its military raids across the West Bank, saying it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent attacks. Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel’s seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory.

A driver crashed a fuel truck into a bus stop in the central West Bank, injuring one person in what the Israeli military said was an attack targeting troops operating there. Officials said that soldiers and an armed civilian had “neutralized” the attacker, but it was not immediately clear whether that meant he had been killed.

Earlier Wednesday, a strike hit a home near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing 11 people, including six brothers and sisters from the same family ranging in age from 21 months to 21 years old, according to the European Hospital, which received the casualties.

A strike late Tuesday on a home in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed nine people, including six women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the civil defense. The civil defense said the home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at the al-Quds Open University, who survived the strike.

The Israeli military said two soldiers died and seven were injured when their helicopter crashed in the southern Gaza Strip as they evacuated wounded troops. It said the overnight crash was not the result of enemy fire and is under investigation. There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom died in accidents, according to the military.

Israeli security forces inspect the scene of what they say is a Palestinian ramming attack at a bus station near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Beit El, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli soldier flashes a V-sign to photographers during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

An Israeli soldier aims her rifle during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers arrest a blindfolded Palestinian during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)