Five rookie starters back Blach to lift Rockies
BALTIMORE >> The Rockies’ kids were more than all right on a steamy Sunday afternoon.
With five rookies in the starting lineup, including first baseman Hunter Goodman who sparkled in his major league debut, the Rockies beat the Orioles, 4-3, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The victory snapped Colorado’s six-game losing streak, and a 10-game road losing skid as well.
Lefty starter Ty Blach did the heavy lifting, pitching seven innings of three-hit ball. He gave up just one run on a solo homer to Cedric Mullins in the fifth, struck out seven and walked one.
“I felt great today and I was able to really command my fastball and kind of save the changeup for later, which was really big for me (against) the top part of their order,” said Blach, who whittled his ERA to 3.94.
Now, about those kids. Rookie right fielder Michael Toglia hit a one-out, solo homer off right-hander Jack Flaherty in the fifth to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, Baltimore intentionally walked rookie left fielder Nolan Jones and pitched to Goodman, who drilled a single to center off Flaherty to drive in Ryan Mcmahon and boost Colorado’s lead to 3-1. Mcmahon had reached on a double.
Goodman also scored the go-ahead run in the ninth. He led off with an infield single and took second on shortstop Jorge Mateo’s wild throw to first. Goodman raced to third on Toglia’s grounder to second and scored on pinch-hitter Elias Diaz’s high chopper to third.
“All around, it was a good day and I had a lot of fun,” said Goodman, who busted down the door to the majors with a powerful performance at Double-a
and Triple-a. “Being able to contribute to a win in my first major league game was huge.”
Rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar played a role, too. In the fourth, he singled, stole second and scored on Brendan Rodgers’ single.
Lately, and painfully, Colorado’s bullpen has been afflicted by Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
The Rockies entered Sunday’s game as the first team of the modern era to hold a lead in the sixth inning or later in six consecutive games and lose all six.
It looked like that ignominious streak might continue. Colorado led 3-1 in the eighth when righthander Jake Bird came in and issued a one-out walk to Mullins and then served up a game-tying, two-run homer to pinch-hitter Ryan O’hearn.
But closer Justin Lawrence came in to get the final out in the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth to get the victory. For good measure, Goodman made a diving catch on James Mccann’s scorching liner down the first base line to close out the game.
“I told Hunter this morning, ‘There is no day like your first day. You’ll remember this one,’ ” manager Bud Black said. “To get your first hit, to score the go-ahead run, and to make a diving play on a bullet to end the game, there’s a lot in there.”