Freeland, strong bullpen carry Colorado
After Arizona started Colorado’s season with a historic 16-1 trouncing at Chase Field, the Rockies paid the snakes back with a comeback victory on Monday at Coors Field.
The Rockies beat the defending National League champions, 7-5, in a series opener where Kyle Freeland took a step forward following his first two horrendous starts and the bullpen was mostly solid.
Colorado’s decisive frame came in a three-run sixth, when the red-hot Ryan Mcmahon — atoning for a costly error earlier in the night — had an infield single to give Colorado the lead it wouldn’t look back from.
And, in a refreshing change of pace, the Rockies actually got on the board first for the first time this year.
Charlie Blackmon led off for Colorado with an opposite-field triple, and then Ezequiel Tovar singled to center to score Blackmon and snap a franchise-record drought of not scoring first in 16 consecutive games dating back to last season.
But after a couple quiet innings, Arizona’s bats came alive in the fourth.
In that inning, Christian Walker led off with a single, then Eugenio Suárez walked. After old friend Randal Grichuk hit a sacrifice fly and Kevin Newman singled to center to make it a 2-1 visitors’ lead, Mcmahon got eaten up by a chopper down the line, resulting in two unearned runs.
The next batter, Corbin Carroll, hit a sharp grounder back to Freeland, and the clearly frustrated southpaw fired a fastball over to first for the final out of the inning. It was Freeland, after all, who was lit up in that Opening Day disaster in Phoenix.
Colorado got a pair back in the bottom of the frame. Kris Bryant and Nolan Jones both had RBI singles to cut the score to 4-3 as the Rockies started to touch up Zac Gallen, who shut them down on Opening Day in Arizona.
After Gallen’s exit, the Rockies went to work on the Dbacks’ bullpen in the sixth. They scored one via Elehuris Montero’s sacrifice fly and loaded the bases to end the right-hander’s night, bringing on southpaw Joe Mantiply. Mcmahon’s infield single and then an Elias Diaz walk gave Colorado a 6-4 lead.
As the home team went ahead in front of a sparse crowd, Peter Lambert was effective in long relief. The right-hander tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just one baserunner via a walk, before turning the game over to righthander Justin Lawrence in the eighth. Lawrence, who began the season as the closer, struggled in the home opener against the Rays last Friday when he was pegged for five runs (four earned) while getting just one out in a ninth-inning meltdown.
But after Lawrence made it through the eighth without any major blips, Blackmon hit his first homer of the year 395 feet to right field to extend Colorado’s lead to 7-4.
In the ninth, righthander Nick Mears had a chance to earn his first career save, but got into trouble instead. After walking the first two batters and giving up an RBI single, Mears issued another walk to load the bases. That’s when he got the hook, and right-hander Jake Bird came in to get the final out.
$182 MILLION MAN UPDATE>> Bryant, who missed Saturday’s game due to back tightness, played right field on Monday and appeared to be running, and swinging, without any issues. In addition to his RBI single, he also made a sliding catch to end Arizona’s half of the sixth.
Still, even with a hit in 1-for-4 performance on
aMonday, he’s hitting just .125. Jake Cave replaced Bryant in right field for the ninth inning, and Cave snagged Suárez’s deep drive at the track for the final out of the game.
“We wanted to get (Bryant) out in right field and move him around,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He’s fine and he feels good physically.”
HAMMERIN’ HANK’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY>> Black was a junior in high school on April 8, 1954, the day that Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth for the most homers all-time with 715.
Black still sharply recalls that day, and the build-up to baseball history for one of his favorite players.
“I was studying for a high school physics test that night,” Black said. “And I do remember that — (the Dodgers’) Al Downing the pitcher, the swing to left-center over the chainlink fence into the bullpen (at Atlanta-fulton County Stadium), the shot of him running around the bases with the two fans coming out of the stands to congratulate him.
“That was one of my vivid memories of a true baseball event. There was a lot of build-up. Back then, no, I didn’t think (that would be broken). That seemed like a lot. Then I when I got into the 1990s, I still didn’t think it was going to happen… But Barry got him. I don’t think anyone will get (762). Barry’s record is safe.”
Barry Bonds — Black’s teammate with the Giants in 1993 and ’94 — eventually broke Aaron’s record of 755 in 2007, Bonds’ final season in the majors.