Rockies Win With Zeile

Through three innings, it was shaping up to be one of the worst games of Todd Zeile’s career.

Showing remarkable resiliency, Zeile wound up with five runs batted in, matching his career high, as the Colorado Rockies routed the San Diego Padres, 16-3, on Thursday.

The Rockies, 17-8 under Manager Clint Hurdle after a 6-16 start under Buddy Bell, moved into fourth place in the National League West ahead of the Padres.

Larry Walker and Todd Helton homered on consecutive pitches, and Todd Hollandsworth had a three-run homer. John Thomson pitched seven strong innings, and Bobby Estalella had three straight doubles for the Rockies, who posted their first three-game sweep of San Diego in Denver since 1995.

Zeile had three straight hits after his poor start.

“Baseball is the strangest game,” Zeile said. “I started out as poorly in this game as any game I can remember in recent times. I grounded out with the bases loaded. I struck out with two men on.

“I cost Larry [Walker] an assist in right field when I drop a throw at third. And we’re only in the third inning.

“I was angry about the error. I was upset about costing Larry because he made such a great throw. I don’t know that you need extra motivation, but I certainly didn’t want to let that be something that turned into the difference in the game.”

Zeile made sure of it. He had RBIs in three straight innings--a two-run double in the sixth, an RBI single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly in the eighth. His groundout in the first also produced a run.

“He brings a calm confidence to the ballclub,” Hurdle said of Zeile, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Mets in January.

“He’s probably played in more big games than the rest of our club combined. He’s as good a two-strike hitter as I’ve seen in a while. He might not look good early, but he finds a way to get the barrel on the ball late. He did it again today.”