LeMahieu’s RBI single finishes Philadelphia
ROCKIES 4, PHILLIES 3 DJ LeMahieu doesn’t display a lot of emotion on the baseball diamond. So it’s a big deal when he pumps his f ist and claps his hands.
The all-star second baseman scooted an RBI single through the right side of the infield in the eighth inning Friday night to score Pat Valaika and lift the Rockies to a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia. It was Colorado’s third one-run victory in its last four games at Coors Field.
LeMahieu’s patented opposite-field hit, coming after the Phillies intentionally walked Charlie Blackmon, tagged a happy ending on a difficult night that saw rookie left-hander Kyle Freeland leave the game in the first inning with an apparent groin injury.
Nolan Arenado — who else? — tied the game 3-3 with a one-out, solo homer in the seventh off Ricardo Pinto. The 433-foot blast was Arenado’s 25th of the season It was his big-league best 65th extra-base hit.
Closer Greg Holland notched his 34th save in 35 chances with a perfect ninth. It’s the most saves for the Rockies since Huston Street had 35 in 2009, the last time the Rockies made the playoffs.
Freeland was facing Aaron Altherr, the third batter of the game, and had thrown only 11 pitches (10 for strikes) when he abruptly stopped pitching. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy immediately went out to the
mound, as did manager Bud Black, assistant trainer Scott Gehert and pitching coach Steve Foster. After throwing a pitch, it was quickly determined that Freeland could not continue and he was replaced by Chris Rusin.
Freeland, who appeared to be in some pain, motioned to his left groin while he talked to Black and Gehert. Later, Freeland could be seen limping in the Rockies’ dugout.
Freeland, a Denver native and graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, is 11-7 with a 3.70 ERA. His 11 victories are the most among all major-league rookies this season. If he’s out for any length of time, it will throw a wrench into the Rockies’ starting rotation.
Rusin, the Rockies’ Swiss Army knife out of the pen, ran into big trouble in the second, giving up three consecutive singles to load the bases before whiffing Cameron Rupp, inducing Phillies starter Vince Velasquez to pop out to second and getting Cesar Hernandez to roll out to second. In 3L innings, Rusin struck out five.
The Rockies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off the bat of Carlos Gonzales. Colorado loaded the bases with walks by Blackmon, Gerardo Parra and Mark Reynolds off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez. Then Gonzalez, who has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, ripped a two-run single to right-center.
Philadelphia tied the game 2-2 in the sixth off Antonio Senzatela. Altherr led off with a single and scored on Nick Williams’ double to right center. Williams scored on Maikel Franco’s triple to right. He should have been held to a double, but Gonzalez whiffed on the bouncing ball, allowing Franco to reach third. Oberg relieved Senzatela and got pinch-hitter Hyun Soo Kim to groundout to end the rally.