Solid starts, HRs, healthy Bryant in first series

SAN DIEGO – After winning the first two games of the season-opening series at Petco Park, the Rockies dropped the final two, including a 3-1 decision on Sunday afternoon. But they head to a two-game set at Dodger Stadium with at least a blueprint for road competitiveness.

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Here are three takeaways from the four games:

1. The starting pitching was solid
Left-hander Austin Gomber gave up three third-inning runs on Sunday -- a Trent Grisham solo drive and a Xander Bogaerts two-run homer -- but nothing else over six innings. It was the third quality start (six or more innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs) of the series. Germán Márquez and Kyle Freeland delivered their efforts in the two victories.

“On the road against a good team and a good lineup, we hung in there,” manager Bud Black said.

Gomber disappeared from the rotation last July and was stuck in the bullpen, partly because the Rockies had little in the way of left-handed relievers. The final 2022 numbers were not good (5-7, 5.56 ERA). But Gomber and the Rockies thought sharpening his delivery and using all his pitches would put him at least where he was in 2021 (9-9, 4.53 ERA – and a 2.09 ERA at Coors Field).

All but one of the four hits against him Sunday came during the third inning, and he fanned four against one walk.

“This is my third year with these guys, and a lot of these guys have been here longer -- Kyle, Germán, ‘Senza’ [Antonio Senzatela] when he comes back,” Gomber said. “Those guys are confident in what they can do. I was confident I could do it. We had some bad luck with injuries, and last year just wasn’t our year.”

2. The homers are coming
Gomber’s solid game came on a day when the Padres’ Seth Lugo was better (seven innings, four hits, seven strikeouts). But one of the hits was Ryan McMahon’s first home run of the season, with one out in the seventh. It was the Rockies’ sixth homer of the season -- a solid start for a team that managed just 51 road homers last season to rank last in the Majors. The true test will come after the team bounces between Denver’s unique atmosphere and the road, but it’s a solid start.

“It felt good -- I wish it was in the first inning, when we had a couple guys on,” McMahon said. “But that’s just how it is. I hope we can do it more like the first couple games when we play against the Dodgers.”

C.J. Cron went deep twice on Opening Night and homered again in the third game, and Charlie Blackmon and Elehuris Montero added homers.

“It’s a good sign over the long haul,” Black said.

3. Bryant is healthy
After being limited to 42 games last year with a back strain early and plantar fasciitis and a bone bruise in his right foot late, right fielder Kris Bryant had a healthy and productive spring. He then went 6-for-16 with a double and three runs scored in the four games against the Padres.

Jurickson Profar, signed late in Spring Training to a one-year contract, joined the team Sunday and went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Rockies plan on a lineup with the switch-hitting Profar hitting leadoff and the right-handed hitting Bryant at No. 2.

During Spring Training, Bryant felt more like the guy who was a key cog for Cubs and Giants teams that made the postseason. He appreciated a normal training period after two years of COVID-altered camp and last year, when he signed his seven-year, $182 million deal with the Rockies in March.

“It was being able to dictate a schedule and stick to it throughout the spring,” Bryant said. “It was really nice to catch my breath and really focus on making sure everything feels right for the season.

“When you go through the last three years, you forget how thankful you should be for normal springs and good routines.”