Coming home as winners
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 1 After posting 4-3 record on first road trip, Rockies ready to host Braves
SAN DIEGO» After 45 days of spring training in the desert, followed by seven games on the road, the Rockies are finally coming home.
They will be greeted with the traditional, beer-inspired, purple-clad hoopla — and brisk Colorado weather — when they host the Braves in their home opener Friday afternoon at Coors Field.
So, what do we know so far about these 2018 Rockies, who own a 4-3 record?
Their starting pitching has been sporadic and remains a concern. The offense, despite getting only four hits in a 3-1 victory over the Padres on Thursday afternoon at Petco Park, has the potential to be potent, especially in LoDo.
The defense? It should be golden. Colorado has committed only two errors in the first seven games, and five-time Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado spun another web gem Thursday, going horizontal to rob the Padres’ Austin Hedges of possible extra bases in the third inning.
“It’s awesome, it’s a great defense and really athletic,” said two-time Gold Glove second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who roped an opposite-field, twoout, two-run single off Padres closer Brad Hand in the ninth inning to secure Thursday’s victory. “We have great arms in the outfield and our infield, in my opinion, is the best defensive infield in the league.”
Colorado’s glove work was on full display Thursday. A prime exhibit: two pivotal plays in the seventh inning. Right fielder Gerardo Parra dived for Freddy Galvis’ one-out line drive but was unable to make the catch. Parra, however, managed to block the ball, then erase Hunter Renfroe — attempting to go from first base to third — with a strike to Arenado. The subtle moment within the play was a deke by shortstop Trevor Story,
who held up Renfroe just long enough to get the out at third.
“We are very prideful of our defense, and we work really hard,” Story said. “We just want to do everything we can to get those extra outs.”
The inning ended with catcher Chris Iannetta making a perfect throw to nail Galvis attempting to steal second base.
In the final analysis, the Rockies’ hopes to be true contenders come September will come down to starting pitching. They managed to win three of four games in San Diego largely because of terrific performances from righthander Jon Gray and lefty Tyler Anderson, both of whom bounced back from awful outings to begin their seasons.
Anderson vowed to manager Bud Black that he was going to be much more aggressive Thursday than he had been in his lackluster first start of the season at Arizona. Anderson was true to his word.
He was perfect through 3M innings before Eric Hosmer rapped a single up the middle. By the time Black relieved him in favor of Adam Ottavino with a runner on in the seventh, Anderson had given the Rockies everything they wanted: six scoreless innings, four hits allowed and no walks. In stark contract, Anderson gave up seven runs on five hits and four walks in a mere 2L innings against the Diamondbacks.
“Today I was more aggressive in the strike zone,” Anderson said. “Buddy and I talked and I told him, ‘That’s not the pitcher I am, to give up those walks.’ My fastball command was a lot better today.”
Added Black: “I think this game was a momentum-builder for Tyler. His fastball was much better to- day and his changeup was effective, and the cutter-slider was good.”
Gray pitched seven scoreless innings Wednesday night, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out seven as Colorado cruised to a 5-2 victory. That was a good sign from Colorado’s No. 1 pitcher.
“What I liked about our start (to the season) is how we pitched today and how we pitched last night,” Black said. “And (Kyle) Freeland pitched well on Tuesday, and (Chad) Bettis hung in there (on Monday), so I liked the way we pitched in this series. Now that has to continue.”