The Padres came into Coors Field having lost 13 or 17 and in danger of not only losing first place, but ending up in third. The Rockies meanwhile were on a tear, winning 10 straight and poised to take control of the NL West. It looked as though this would be last we’d see of the first place Friars as they’d fall yet again to Colorado as they had all season.

But something different happened. They came out swinging. The bat that is, scoring at least six runs a game and stunning the Rockies in the first two. The Padres will now head to St Louis with their full roster intact with the return of Jerry Hairston Jr. and Tony Gwynn Jr. from the disabled list and the possibility of Chris Young this Saturday.

The Padres were able to add a game on the Rockies, extending their lead to 2.5 games. They will lead the Giants by either .5 or 1.5 games depending on the outcme of the Giants game with the Dodgers Wednesday night. Here is how the Padres refused to lay down since Monday in Colorado.

September 13^th, 2010 Padres 6 Rockies 4

WP Ernesto Frieri (1-1) 0.33IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 0K 0HR

LP Jeff Francis (4-5) 3IP 5H 2R 2ER 0BB 2K 1HR

S Heath Bell (41) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 1K 0HR

Miguel Tejada tied a season high with four RBI’s to help the Padres snap the surging Rockies 10 game winning streak. Tejada hit a two run homer in the top of the first to give the Friars an early lead.

The Padres struck for three more runs in the fifth starting with Tejada’s two run single. Ryan Ludwick followed with an RBI single to put the Padres ahead, 5-0.

Corey Luebke was dominant for the first four innings, striking out five Rockies while walking only one. But he ran into trouble in the fifth Carlos Gonzalez put the Rockies on the board with a two-out run-scoring single with two men on base. Troy Tulowitski followed with a three run home run to bring the Rockies within one run. Luebke the allowed babck to back singles which brought the quick hook from Bud Black. Ernesto Frieri got Ryan Spillbroughs to ground out to end the inning and earn his first win.

Oscar Salazar added another run in the ninth with his third homer of the season. Heath Bell came in and pitched a scoreless ninth for his 41^st save in 43 chances.

September 14^th, 2010 Padres 7 Rockies 6

WP Jon Garland (14-11) 7IP 4H 3R 1ER 0BB 6K 0HR

LP Jason Hammel (10-8) 4IP 10H 4R 4ER 2BB 3K 0HR

S Heath Bell (42) 1.33IP 3H 2R 2ER 1BB 0K 0HR

Heath Bell earned what might have been the most difficult of his 42 saves Tuesday night, as the Padres held on to a 7-6 lead over the Rockies. After surrendering two runs already in the ninth with the winning run on first base, Bell induced a groundball to shortstop Miguel Tejada. Tejada picked up the ball and tagged second before firing a bullet to Adrian Gonzalez to beat out the speeding Eric Young to end the game. It was the first time Young had grounded into a double play this season.

Tejada and Ryan Ludwick both got the Padres on the board with a pair of RBI singles in the first. Ludwick had three hits on the night. David Eckstein added two more in the top of the fourth to give the Padres a four to zip lead.

But the Rockies answered back with Carlos Gonzalez’s two-run double the next half-inning. Todd Helton added another with a sacrifice fly.

Matt Stairs extended his major league record with a pinch-hit two run homer in the eighth. Nick Hundley added a sacrifice fly in the ninth which proved to be the difference as Bell surrendered two runs in the bottom half of the inning.

September 15^th, 2010 Padres 6 Rockies 9

WP Jorge De La Rosa (8-4) 7.33IP 6H 5R 5ER 1BB 7K 2HR

LP Clayton Richard (12-8) 3IP 11H 8R 8ER 1BB 3K 1HR

S Huston Street (19) 1IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2K 0HR

Troy Tulowitzki single handedly thwarted the Padres effort to sweep his Rockies with a seven RBI effort on Wednesday. He began with an RBI single in the first before hitting a pair of three run shots in the third and fourth. Carlos Gonzalez also added a run with an RBI single in the third.

Adrian Gonzalez did everything in his power to keep the Padres close. He had an RBI single in the fourth that made it 5-2. Then he hit a solo shot in the sixth to make it 9-3. His 29^th homer, for three runs in the eighth, brought the Friars to within three.

But Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth to collect his 19^th save of the season.

Yorvit Torealba was the only player named Gonzalez or Tulowitzki to knock in a run when he tied the game with a solo homer to left-center in the third.