SAN DIEGO (Interstat) — Ty France went 3 for 3 with a home run and scored three times as the surging San Diego Padres finished a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 7-2 victory Sunday evening at PETCO Park.

The win, San Diego’s fifth straight and eighth in nine games, was dampened by the early exit of starting pitcher Nick Pivetta due to right elbow stiffness. The Padres improved to 10-6, while the Rockies fell to 6-10.

Pivetta, the game’s top star, was dominant before his injury, tossing three perfect innings with four strikeouts. He exited after warming up for the fourth, having thrown 18 strikes and just four balls. His departure forced the Padres to rely heavily on their bullpen, which delivered six innings of two-run ball.

David Morgan (2-0) earned the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, striking out four. Jimmy Herget (0-1) took the loss for Colorado, allowing two runs on one hit over 1 1/3 innings.

San Diego manufactured an early lead with small ball. They took a 1-0 lead in the first when Ramón Laureano was hit by a pitch, advanced on a Fernando Tatis Jr. single and a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly. They made it 2-0 in the second on France’s double and another sacrifice fly, this one by Freddy Fermin.

France extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth with a solo home run to center field off reliever Kyle Hart.

The most important part of the game came in the top of the fifth inning. After being held hitless for 4 2/3 innings, the Rockies broke through against Hart. Ezequiel Tovar was hit by a pitch and Brenton Doyle walked, setting the stage for Brett Sullivan’s two-run double to right field, cutting the deficit to 3-2 and representing Colorado’s only hits of the game.

The Padres responded immediately in the bottom half, reclaiming momentum and the lead for good. Jackson Merrill singled and scored on Machado’s RBI single, making it 4-2 and halting Colorado’s brief rally.

San Diego then put the game out of reach in the sixth. After two quick outs, France singled and Laureano followed with a two-run homer to left-center, pushing the advantage to 6-2. Merrill added a solo shot in the seventh for the final margin.

The Padres’ offense was efficient, scoring seven runs on 10 hits while executing two sacrifice flies and two sacrifice bunts. They also grounded into three double plays, which repeatedly stalled rallies but did not alter the outcome. Colorado pitchers combined for 18 strikes, 46 balls and 18 balls in play, while San Diego’s staff had 15 strikes, 50 balls and 15 balls in play.

The Rockies, who arrived in San Diego on a four-game winning streak after sweeping Houston, managed only two hits — Sullivan’s double and a ninth-inning single by Hunter Goodman. They scored both runs in the fifth but otherwise were stifled.

Beyond Pivetta and France, key performances for San Diego included Merrill, who was 2 for 3 with a homer, and Laureano, whose two-run blast provided critical insurance. For Colorado, reliever Victor Vodnik pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

The game, played in 2 hours, 50 minutes before a crowd of 39,786, defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 6-5 Padres win. San Diego’s ELO win probability was 76%, and they covered the -1.5 spread. The total of nine runs went over the line of 7.5.

The Padres, now winners of five straight, will open a three-game series at home against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. The Rockies, swept for the first time this season, travel to Houston to face the Astros, also on Tuesday. The two teams will meet again for a three-game series in Denver beginning April 21.