SAN DIEGO -- Rookie right-hander Jason Hirsh's mind was on baseball Friday night, when he struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings while leading the Rockies to their third straight victory, a 4-3 decision over the Padres in their PETCO Park opener before a sold-out crowd of 44,267.

But Hirsh's mood and inner spirit was all football. Hirsh worked for the San Diego Chargers in 2006, delivering pictures to a coach on the sideline during games, and he studied how a crowd can lift players. As fireworks blasted and a pregame military flyover took place, Hirsh zeroed in on the Padres.

"At the Charger games, they blow up things and shoot fireworks and do flyovers every game, and I get so pumped up," Hirsh said. "So tonight, when that happened, I felt something click in and all the butterflies go away, and I was ready to go."

Matt Holliday knocked a two-run homer off Greg Maddux (0-1) during a three-run sixth inning. Kazuo Matsui went 3-for-4 with an RBI triple and two steals. Closer Brian Fuentes gave up a Khalil Greene two-run shot in the ninth, but he retired the next three hitters, including two on strikeouts, for his first save of the season.

But Hirsh (1-0), the key player among three obtained from the Astros for former Rockies No. 1 pitcher Jason Jennings, dominated the night. He held the Padres to one run, Terrmel Sledge's two-out homer in the fifth, and six hits.

"He was impressive," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched with an edge on him tonight."

Being sharp was a goal for Hirsh, who was named pitcher of the year in the Double-A Texas League in 2005 and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 2006.

Last Aug. 12, the Padres hit three consecutive home runs off him in the fourth inning of his Major League debut, a 6-4 loss at Minute Maid Park. Hirsh showed flashes of good and bad while going 3-4 with a 6.04 ERA in nine starts. His mound presence came under question.

But after Sledge's home run, which tied the score, 1-1, Hirsh struck out four more batters and kept the Padres off the scoreboard.

"I just tried to be a competitor tonight instead of just saying, 'I just gave up a home run, and now I'm going to pout,'" said Hirsh, who spotted his fastball and showed an effective changeup. "I know I made a bad pitch. It wasn't where I wanted to put it. But so what? It's over."

Hirsh also had help. He left with a 4-1 lead and runners at the corners and two outs in the seventh. But Manny Corpas forced pinch-hitter Paul McAnulty into a weak grounder in front of the plate.

Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said Hirsh has grown considerably since last summer.

"Last year, he threw more high fastballs and curveballs," Gonzalez said. "This year he came after us with sinkers and changeups. We weren't ready. We weren't prepared for him to come after us that way."

The Rockies went after Maddux with aggressive swings and speed, and they took advantage of few chances. The Rockies scored four runs on five hits in Maddux's 5 1/3 innings.

Matsui, whose triple came after Maddux hit Willy Taveras with two outs in the third, led off the sixth with a single, stole second and moved to third on Garrett Atkins' fly ball. Matsui scored on Maddux's wild pitch. Holliday's homer, his second of the season, followed a Todd Helton walk.

Holliday swung hard at a low pitch despite being down 0-2.

"That's sort of the person I try to be at the plate," Holliday said. "Sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good, but I'm going to be aggressive."