Rockies 9, D-backs 1:
Mark Reynolds’ 10th homer of the season helps Colorado score four runs in first inning. »
The Rockies entered Saturday night’s game searching for two things: a solid start from struggling left-hander Tyler Anderson and a consistent, sustained performance from their sputtering offense.
The Rockies hit the jackpot in a 9-1 romp over Arizona at Coors Field, a victory that increased their lead to 1Kgames over the Diamondbacks in the National LeagueWest.
Prior to the game, manager Bud Black said: “Tyler doesn’t need any magic formula. He just needs to string good pitches together and do it inning after inning.”
Anderson obliged — after a shaky beginning.
Masterfully mixing his fastball, cutter and changeup, Anderson limited the Diamondbacks to one run on six hits over six innings. The left-hander tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts. The last six outs he recorded— and nine of his last 11 outs— came via strikeouts.
“I just threw a lot more quality strikes, and I kept the ball down a lot better,” said Anderson, who improved to 2-4 andwhittled hisERA from from 7.71 to 6.69. “I had a lot more balls at the bottom of the zone. In general, Imixedmy pitches a lot more than I had been.”
All told, Arizona struck out 13 times, prompting manager Tony Lovullo to say: “That’s not what you expect when you come into this ballpark, so it’s a little bit surprising. But I don’t think it’s any indication of where our hitters are. I think it’s more a credit to what their guys did tonight.”
Powered by home runs from Mark Reynolds andNolan Arenado, and three-hit performances by Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu, Colorado’s offense finally found a higher gear, cranking out 14 hits and batting 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“We just stayed on the attack, and that was nice to see,” Black said.“We swung the batswell, and I thought we had a good plan going in.”
TheRockies ambushed Arizona left-hander Patrick Corbin in the first inning, using a double by Blackmon, a single by LeMahieu, awild pitch, an RBI single by Arenado and a two-run homer by Reynolds to stake a 4-0 lead.
Reynolds, a nonroster invitee to spring training, leads the Rockies with 10 homers and 26 RBIs. Last year, he didn’t hit home runNo. 10 until July 21 and finished the season with 14.
“Baseball players get on some hot streaks sometimes, and I just happen to be on one to start the year,” said Reynolds, who’s batting .315. “I’ve been on the roller coaster many times inmy career, so I’m just trying to keep working and stay with my approach before games and hope it translates to the field.”
A two-run fourth put Colorado in command. Blackmon scorched a run-scoring triple downthe firstbase line to score Anderson and then trotted home on LeMahieu’s single to right. Blackmon, who hit five triples last season, already has four after 31 games this season.
The first three innings were a high-wire act for Anderson, but he managed to hold the Diamondbacks to a single run.
Andersonwas rescued by some excellent pitches and got a little help from his four-time Gold Glove third baseman. Anderson used a nifty changeup to strike out Jake Lamb with two on in the first inning. In the second, Arenado gobbled up a grounder, scurried to third base and then threw a rocket to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
Left-hander Chris Rusin got the first save of his career, pitching three scoreless innings to cap off the victory. It was the 18th threeinning save in Rockies history.