Soto cheered, Drury hits slam as Padres beat Rockies 9-1

By BERNIE WILSON -- SAN DIEGO (AP) — The sellout crowd came to cheer Juan Soto in his first game with the San Diego Padres. It went bonkers when Brandon Drury hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw with his new team. Feeding off the energy of Soto and the crowd, the new-look Padres routed the Colorado Rockies 9-1 on an electric Wednesday night at Petco Park. The crowd of 44,652 was animated even before the game started, and gave Soto a standing ovation as he ran out to his position in right field in the first inning, and then again when he came to the plate in the bottom of the inning. He drew a walk to start a five-run rally that was capped with Drury’s grand slam. “It feels very cool. It brings a lot of emotions for me,” said Soto, the 23-year-old generational talent whose