DENVER _ If Eric Lauer is going to pitch for the Padres much longer, he has to pitch a little better a little more often.
And he has to do a lot better when he's pitching in Colorado.
Saturday brought another low point a mile high for the young left-hander, as the Rockies scored six runs before he could record the second out in the third inning of what ended up being an 11-10 victory over the Padres.
Lauer's ERA in four career starts at Coors Field is 18.82, which is highest among any active pitcher who has made at least three starts here. His ERA at the Rockies' home actually dropped by 0.91 with the four earned runs he yielded Saturday.
Lauer has never completed more than three innings at Coors Field.
The place is wild. It sees an average of 13 runs a game.
Down 8-2 on Friday, the Padres got to within a run and lost 10-8. Saturday, they trailed 9-2 and got to within a run when Manny Machado's three-run homer in the eighth inning made it 11-10.
The Padres gained three runs to make it 9-5 in the fifth inning but lost first baseman Eric Hosmer and manager Andy Green in the process. Third base umpire Carlos Torres first tossed Hosmer for twice yelling what appeared to be "Terrible" and looking at Torres as he returned to the dugout following his RBI groundout. Hosmer, who was practically in the dugout when Torres signaled his ejection, had been upset about the umpires' ruling he had swung at a pitch during the at-bat. Torres than ran Green as the manager continued talking while walking away following an extended argument.
By the time Hosmer and Green headed to the clubhouse, Lauer was back on the dugout bench, watching the bulk of another game at the venue that is a millstone around his neck.
He knows the Rockies match up well with him. He knows Coors Field is in his head.
He held them to a run on four hits in six innings last Sunday in San Diego and tried to convince himself coming to Denver and making the same kind of pitches would produce similar results.
"I don't think the park should play a role in it," Lauer said this week. "But it definitely sways things a little bit. But I think it does that for any pitcher. It's not just me."
Coors has yielded a 6.14 ERA this season, highest in the majors by just shy of one run. Entering Saturday, hitters were a combined .300/.362/.525 (all major league highs) at the ballpark built big to combat the effects of the thin air.
After Saturday, the Rockies are batting .439/.556/.742 against Lauer at Coors Field.
Lauer struck out Charlie Blackmon to end the first inning, a significant marker in that Blackmon entered the game 10 for 16 against Lauer, including 6 for 7 at Coors Field.
Lauer also got the first two outs of the second inning before five straight Rockies reached base and a 2-0 Padres lead turned into a 3-2 deficit.
Blackmon led off the bottom of the fourth inning by lining a 1-2 slider 396 feet, over the right field wall. The Rockies' right fielder would also make the final out of fifth, though that would come against Luis Perdomo.
Lauer was gone three batters after the homer, undone by his own fielding error, two singles and an error by Josh Naylor in right field. By that time, it was 6-2. It would be 9-2 after Perdomo surrendered a couple more RBI singles and a two-run double.
The Rockies took an 11-5 lead with a run against Gerardo Reyes in the fifth and another off Trey Wingenter in the seventh before the Padres fought back with a five-run eighth that prompted the Rockies to use five relievers.
The result between two teams a combined 33 games under .500 is secondary to the storylines within the game that affect the future.
Lauer was one such story Saturday.
The 25th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Lauer made his major league debut here on April 24, 2018. He allowed seven runs in three innings and did not pitch in Denver again his rookie season. His three starts here third season have lasted a total of eight innings, during which the Rockies have scored 19 runs.
Every time he is asked about Lauer and Coors Field this season, Green has essentially said the 24-year-old's troubles there must stop.
"He's better than he's pitched here," Green said Saturday afternoon.
Indeed. A 3.91 ERA, which is Lauer's career mark in 46 starts outside of Denver, indicates a serviceable No. 4 or No. 5 starter.
Thing is, the Padres play the Rockies 19 times each season, nine or 10 of those at Coors Field.
Lauer, who had strung together a career-high streak of six-inning starts entering Saturday, will have two chances to finish this season strong.
He knows he practically must.
The Padres have Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack and Garrett Richards penciled in their rotation for 2020. The offseason will also see them make a run at adding a pitcher to place at or near the front of that mix. So there could be one spot for Joey Lucchesi, Cal Quantrill and Lauer to fight for in spring training. (That's if MacKenzie Gore doesn't pull a Paddack and make the team right away. And it's only a matter of time before he and Luis Patino are in the majors.)
"You want to leave a good taste in their mouth going into the offseason," Lauer said. "We all know there are a lot of guys that have opportunity (to be in) the rotation. There are a lot of guys coming up they're going to give opportunities to. You just want to solidify yourself."
At least going forward, he won't be on Rockies ground.
