Padres starter Nick Pivetta leaves game with elbow stiffness

San Diego Padres right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta left Sunday's game against the visiting Colorado Rockies in the top of the fourth inning with what the team called right elbow stiffness.

Pivetta, who retired the first nine hitters he faced, four by strikeout, pumped in a 92-mph fastball to Edouard Julien for a strike to even the count at 2-2 to start the fourth. But manager Craig Stammen and the training staff came out to the mound immediately after the pitch.

After a brief consultation on the mound, Pivetta walked off the field directly into the tunnel to the San Diego clubhouse -- covering his mouth with his hand as he left.

Kyle Hart took over for Pivetta and retired all three hitters he faced, preserving the Padres' 2-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings. The Rockies reached Hart for two runs in the fifth to pull within 3-2.

Pivetta owns a 1-2 record in four starts this year with a 4.50 earned run average.

Colorado's scheduled starter, lefty Kyle Freeland, was scratched while warming up with what the Rockies termed left posterior shoulder soreness.

--Field Level Media