DENVER — Only two pitchers have more losses this season than Kyle Freeland. Few have given up more hits. He’d lead the majors in traffic allowed if he’d logged enough innings.

But Kyle Freeland is still fighting. (Just ask the Giants’ Rafael Devers.)

The Padres?

The jury is still out.

The Rockies’ embattled left-hander tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts over eight shutout innings, Nick Pivetta wasn’t good enough in his best start yet at Coors Field and a 3-0 blanking sent the Padres to a fifth straight loss — all against sub-.500 teams that sold at the trade deadline.

This one was the worst yet.

After all, the 101-loss Rockies are officially the only team already eliminated from postseason contention. Their minus-361 run differential is the worst by an MLB team since 1900 and the Padres had outscored them 53-18 in winning five of the first six meetings this season.

The only positive to take away from a chilly, uneventful night at Coors Field was the Dodgers losing their fourth game in a row on a walk-off by the pesky Orioles.

The Padres remain two games back in the NL West standings, but they’re now tied with the Mets for the second and third wild-card spots, five games behind the Cubs.

The Giants, winners of four straight, now lurk 4½ games behind the Padres and Mets.

Coors Field had been a personal house of horrors for Pivetta, who carried a 17.36 ERA in four appearances into Friday’s start.

So a quality start — the Padres’ first in two weeks — was a victory in inself. He threw 66 of his 99 pitches for strikes, struck out five and allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks over six innings.

Three soft singles opened up a 2-0 lead on Pivetta in the fifth inning. The hardest hit that he gave up was Hunter Goodman’s 105 mph homer on a 1-1 fastball dotted on out outside corner in the third inning.

David Morgan allowed a run-scoring double to Goodman in the seventh inning.

Freeland was working on two days rest.

Kinda.

He threw just eight pitches on Tuesday when he was ejected for his part in inciting a benches-clearing incident with the Giants. The 32-year-old veteran took issue with Devers’ taking his time getting up the first-base line while admiring a home run.

Freeland looked plenty rested by the time he climbed the mound again Friday, retiring 13 in a row before Ramón Laureano’s fifth-inning double and then 10 more in a row before Jose Iglesias’ two-out single in the eighth gave the Padres just their second base runner.

Freeland escaped the eighth without further damage and was at just 88 pitches when interim manager Warren Schaeffer asked closer Victor Vodnik to finish the game.

He did, but only after walking pinch-hitter Luis Arraez and allowing a single to Fernando Tatis Jr.

But Ryan O’Hearn flied out to left and Manny Machado bounced into a game-ending double play.

Originally Published: September 5, 2025 at 7:57 PM PDT