Mcmahon’s “redemption homer” sparks Colorado’s rout of Cincy
Ryan Mcmahon returned to the Coors Field dugout with a megawatt smile. Sweet redemption will do that for a ballplayer.
In the fifth inning, the third baseman, who suffered through a nightmarish series at Philadelphia, blasted a 412-foot, three-run homer into the second deck in right field, sparking the Rockies’ 10-4 rout of Cincinnati on a windy Friday night.
Mcmahon, one of the best defensive third basemen in the majors last season, committed four errors in Philly where the Rockies lost four straight. Before Friday night’s game, he said, “We just have to flush it and think about Cincy.”
Mcmahon waylaid a 1-0, 97 mph fastball from Reds flame-throwing, rookie right-hander Hunter Greene for his second homer of the season.
The third baseman also played a hand in a stellar performance by starter Antonio Senzatela. The right-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Senzatela (2-1, 3.66 ERA) induced three groundball double plays, all of them started by McMahon. That was a part of the redemption story because two of Mcmahon’s miscues in Philly were on throwing errors to second that likely would have resulted in double plays.
Senzatela is on a remarkable run at Coors Field. He has not been charged with a loss here since May 11 of last season. In 13 starts at home since then, he’s 4-0 (the Rockies are 10-3) with a 3.12 ERA, 37 strikeouts and just eight walks.
Things got just a bit dicey in the seventh when Jhoulys Chacin relieved Senezatela with two on and one out and Colorado holding a 5-1 lead. Chacin promptly walked Colin Moran, loading the bases. But Chacin got Jonathan India to ground out to shortstop Jose Iglesias, who started Colorado’s fourth double play of the game.
The Rockies, who pounded out 14 hits, blew the game open in the bottom of the frame, sending 10 men to the plate en route to four runs.
The big blows were back-toback-to-back RBI doubles by Jose Iglesias, Alan Trejo and Connor Joe.
Colorado struck first, taking a 1-0 lead on catcher Elias Diaz’s leadoff homer in the second. Diaz hammered Greene’s first-pitch changeup through the wind and over the center-field wall.
The homer, Diaz’s second of the season, lifted him out of his own funk. He hit 2-for-16 with a double and five strikeouts on the recent road trip.
Cincinnati — which lost its eighth consecutive road game and fell to 3-17 — knotted the game in the fourth, utilizing Tommy Pham’s leadoff double into the right-field corner off Senzatela, a bloop single by Joey Votto and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Farmer.