SAN DIEGO -- Before Wednesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres manager Pat Murphy was praising the play of Jedd Gyorko after his first dozen games at shortstop.

"He's proving to people that he's a viable shortstop candidate," said Murphy, who was talking about the glove work of Gyorko at his new position.

But Gyorko has also picked it up offensively at his new spot.

Wednesday night, Gyorko hit a three-run homer to break a 2-2 tie and send the Padres racing to an 11-4 victory over Colorado at Petco Park.

Gyorko was far from the Padres only weapon as they pounded 18 hits and continued their mastery of the Rockies at Petco Park.

Right fielder Matt Kemp hit a solo homer and drove in two runs. First baseman Will Myers and third baseman Yangervis Solarte each had three hits and two RBIs. Catcher Derek Norris and center fielder Melvin Upton Jr. had two hits apiece.

But it was Gyorko who led the way as the Padres improved to 7-1 against the Rockies at Petco Park this season. Since the All-Star break of 2013, the Padres are 17-4 at home against the Rockies.

Gyorko is hitting .300 (12-for-40) with four homers, two doubles and 11 RBIs on the 11-game homestand that ends Thursday afternoon.

And he is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with six homers and 14 RBIs in 13 starts as a shortstop.

"I'm swinging the bat right now," said Gyorko. "You're never satisfied, but my swing is where it needs to be right now."

Rockies left-handed starter Chris Rusin (5-8) threw a complete-game, five-hit shutout against the Padres the first time he faced San Diego on Aug. 16 in Denver.

Wednesday night was a radically different story. He gave up six runs on eight hits, including the Kemp and Gyorko homers, in just three innings.

"It was hot out (a Petco Park night game record of 89 degrees at the first pitch), but I just didn't make my pitches," said Rusin. "I left one up to Gyorko and he got all of it. I was too predictable."

"Chris was having to work awfully hard all night," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss. "He didn't have his best command. He's been real good for us, but every once in a while you have a clunker."

The Rockies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and had a potential third run thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw by left fielder Justin Upton. The runs scored on two-out singles by first baseman Justin Morneau and second baseman DJ LeMahieu.

Kemp put the Padres on the board in the bottom of the first with his 20th homer -- a 407-foot shot to right center that extended his career-long on-base streak to 29 straight games. The Padres tied the score in the second on a bases-loaded walk drawn by starting pitcher James Shields (11-6) with one out.

Gyorko's three-run homer as the highlight of a four-run third that shot the Padres to a 6-2 lead.

Solarte and Kemp opened the third with singles. After Justin Upton struck out, Gyorko lined an 0-and-2 pitch into the left field seats for his 14th homer of the season -- and his 12th since returning from Triple-A El Paso on June 30. Gyorko has four homers and 15 of his 49 RBIs against the Rockies this season.

The Padres weren't done. Norris and Upton Jr. followed with back-to-back doubles that made it 6-2. Norris's double was his 10th against the Rockies this season -- the most ever by a Padre against another team in a single season.

Catcher Dustin Garneau hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Shields to halve the Padres lead. Garneau's first career homer was the 29th served up by Shields this season, tied for the second-most allowed in the National League.

But Shields blanked the Rockies over his final two innings and finished the night allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks with six strikeouts in six innings.

The Padres stretched their lead to 9-4 with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on four straight singles by second baseman Cory Spangenberg, pinch-hitter Alex Dickerson, Myers and Solarte. Myers, Solarte and Kemp (on a ground out) drove in the runs.

NOTES: An MRI taken of his neck Wednesday morning showed Rockies C Nick Hundley suffered a cervical strain last Sunday while swinging in his last at-bat. Hundley will be re-evaluated in three or four days. ... OF Corey Dickerson started in left field Wednesday night for the Rockies one day after returning from his third stint on the disabled list this season. ... Padres RHP Joaquin Benoit's back spasms have almost disappeared and the set-up reliever is listed as "possible" for Wednesday night. ... Padres manager Pat Murphy said Jedd Gyorko is "proving to people that he's a viable candidate to play shortstop."