DENVER — Things went from seemingly OK to really bad quickly.

That tends to happen at Coors Field more than other ballparks, especially when a pitcher stops throwing strikes and the defense falters.

The Padres had a three-run lead and a starting pitcher on the mound who appeared in control. They had left some runners on but were continually pressuring and had pushed the Rockies starter to his limit after four innings.

The rain had stopped.

Suddenly, a chilly night turned ugly.

The Padres would fall behind in the bottom of the fourth inning, not score again and go on to lose 7-4 to one of the worst teams in the major leagues.

The Rockies won their sixth game in 24 tries this season, flipping a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead by scoring five runs in the fourth, four on a grand slam and one on a bases-loaded walk.

The big inning also featured an early error on what appeared might be a double-play grounder, making two of the runs unearned. The Padres 19 unearned runs are third-most in the major leagues, as 12 of their 17 errors have led to at least one run scoring.

That is the kind of sloppiness that can be particularly painful at Coors Field, where pitchers have a difficult enough time dealing with less movement on their pitches and the ball flying in the mile-high air, as well as the massive outfield that serves as a pasture where hits grow.

“It’s really just about playing good baseball, clean baseball,” Mike Shildt said before Monday’s series opener. “You don’t want to give anything away here. It can hurt you at any time in the game. … This is a little bit more of a unique place in the big leagues, but it really gets back to just nothing free and making sure we take advantage of everything we get.”

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