Even if Friday’s game didn’t have much bearing on the Rockies’ lost season, it mattered to the Padres, which meant it mattered to manager Bud Black.
Before the Rockies spoiled the Padres’ evening with a gripping 4-3 walk-off win in the 10th, when Alan Trejo singled home Garrett Hampson to seize the victory, Black talked to his players about maintaining the “integrity” of the season, whether they were in the playoff picture or not. The Padres, still jostling with the Phillies and Brewers in the Wild Card race, needed Friday’s game to maintain their slight cushion.
“We talked about that,” Black reiterated after the win.