Charlie’s kind of town
ROCKIES 8, PHILLIES 2 Blackmon continues to rip Phillies, hitting two homers as Rockies win 30th game
philadelphia» Certain things just say “Philly.”
Ben Franklin. Broad Street. Independence Hall. Cheesesteaks. The Liberty Bell. Joe Frazier. Rocky Balboa.
And, of course, Charlie Blackmon blasting home runs at Citizens Bank Park.
The Rockies’ bearded wonder, staking his claim as the best center fielder in the National League, rocketed a pair of two-run homers to right field and drove in four runs as the Rockies ripped Philadelphia 8-2 on Tuesday night.
“I know this is a place I like to hit, but you can’t assume you are going to do well here,” Blackmon after the eighth multiple home run game of his career, four of which have come at Citizens Bank. “It’s just a place that I enjoy going to on the road, as opposed to a lot of other places on the road that I could name, where I don’t like going to play.”
Blackmon led the Rockies to their third consecutive victory as they improved to 6-2 on their current 10-game road trip.The woeful Phillies lost for the 19th time in 23 games.
Colorado, a National Leaguebest 30-17 overall and an amazing 17-7 on the road, got another solid start, if not a particularly pretty one, from rookie right-hander German Marquez, who improved to 3-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.86.
After a wobbly beginning, including walking Andres Blanco in the third with the bases loaded to push across a run, Marquez righted himself. He pitched six innings, allowed one run on seven hits, struck out six and walked three.
“I just went out there and battled,” Marquez said. “At times I battled with my command, but I just went out there and made pitches when I had to and gave my team a chance to win.”
It was the latest example of Colorado’s young pitchers blossoming this spring. The rookie foursome of Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzaleta, Marquez and Jeff Hoffman have now made 26 combined starts, going 16-5 with a 3.53 ERA.
“There is a poise to these young guys in the rotation,” manager Bud Black said. “These guys have a have nice heartbeat, their pulse is good, they don’t scare off, and the catchers have done a great job with the collaboration and the dialogue. It’s been good all over the place.”
Blackmon was impressed by Marquez, who escaped a sticky
situation in the third by getting a double-play grounder out of Odubel Herrera with the bases loaded to end the inning.
“Our young guys don’t seem like rookies,” Blackmon said. “They have control over their emotions. Like tonight, things could have gone badly for Marquez, but he got runners out in scoring position. He got out of those jams without giving up runs. That’s impressive.”
Both of Blackmon’s homers came off Philadelphia starter Zach Eflin, and the homers were practically carbon copies, careening off the right-field facade. Blackmon hit a two-run laser in the third to score Tony Wolters. Blackmon’s two-run shot in Colorado’s five-run fourth brought home Alexi Amarista. By then, a handful of fans in the small announced crowd of 17,109 could be heard chanting “Char-lee Blackmon!”
The leadoff hitter is hitting .325 with 11 home runs, and his 40 RBIs lead the majors. Three of his last four multihomer games have come in Philly. Then again, Blackmon bullies the Phillies whenever and wherever he sees them. In his last five games against them, he has nine home runs, two doubles, 12 RBIs and a .500 batting average (11-for-22).
With Blackmon as their ringleader, the Rockies’ offense has been taking a flamethrower to opposing pitching. The Rockies had 10 hits Tuesday night, including a solo homer by Gerardo Parra to lead off the sixth, and have now put up double-digit hits in five consecutive road games for just the fourth time in franchise history.