Ryan Mcmahon hits 495-foot homer, Rockies blast Cardinals, 16-5

A red sea of Cardinals fans inundated Coors Field Tuesday night, pumped up to cheer on heroes Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Paul Goldschmidt.

And, of course, third baseman Nolan Arenado, the former Rockies star.

But the Cardinals faithful were swamped by a Rockies tidal wave that included a season-high 22 hits, highlighted by a Rockies record, 495-foot home run to center by Ryan Mcmahon in the seventh inning. The Rockies beat the Cardinals 16-5.

Colorado also received a career-high, five-hit night from Randal Grichuk, the former Cardinal, who was awarded the Rockies’ purple victory chain.

“It was a special night, obviously, and having my first five-hit night is incredible,” said Grichuk, whose night included a three-run homer in the third inning. “But also doing it against the team that gave me the opportunity and then eventually traded me.

“So obviously in the first game playing against them was special. You get up for it a little. I mean, they traded you and they didn’t see you in their future, so you want to go out there and play well against them.”

Manager Bud Black is encouraged by Grichuk’s recent power surge that is highlighted by his 15 RBIS in his last 12 games. Grichuk has now hit 11 home runs, with three of them coming in nine games in August.

“It’s in there, and we have talked about the power potential of the lineup all year,” Black said. “I like the fact that Randa’s using the whole field — base hits all over the diamond — and the power tonight with the homer to straightaway center. It’s in there.”

Colorado’s three-run first inning included an error by Arenado and a three-run homer by C.J. Cron, his 23rd homer of the season. Next came Colorado’s nine-run third inning, when they sent 12 batters to the plate.

The Rockies tacked on two more runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh when Mcmahon launched his two-run homer off left-hander T.J. Mcfarland into the second deck above the visitors’ bullpen. Mcmahon’s 495foot homer is the longest by a Rockies player in the Statcast era (since 2015), the fourth-longest — ever — in Coors Field history, and is tied for the sixth-longest homer overall in the Statcast era.

“I know I got a hold of it, it was really cool,” Mcmahon said. “It was a fun experience for me.”

The Rockies’ hit parade included a three-run homer by C.J. Cron in the first inning and a big night from Brendan Rodgers, who tied his career-high with four hits, all singles. The second baseman is slashing .389/.425/.486 with 16 runs scored in 18 games since the All-star break.

Colorado’s nine hits in the third were its most in one inning since June 28, 2019, when they had nine hits in the fifth inning against the Dodgers at Coors Field.