Anderson, Iannetta finish home sweep
ROCKIES 1, GIANTS 0
Rockies 1, Giants 0. On fireworks night, no less.
The star-spangled stars were easy to find on this perfect Wednesday night at Coors Field. Starter Tyler Anderson pitched eight brilliant innings, and catcher Chris Iannetta accounted for the game’s only run with a solo homer in the seventh.
It was just the 10th 1-0 game in Coors Field history. The last time the Rockies won 1-0 at Coors Field was June 12, 2010, vs. Toronto. It was only the third time in franchise history that the Rockies won 1-0 on a solo home run and just the second time at Coors Field. The other: Sept. 17, 2008, vs. San Diego and a blast by Joe Koshansky.
The last time the Rockies won 1-0 via a solo home run was on July 18, 2010, at Cincinnati. The batter? Iannetta.
Closer Wade Davis preserved the milestone despite giving up a single to Andrew McCutchen and a walk to Buster Posey to put the tying run at second. It was Davis’ 25th save.
Anderson, as usual, talked about his performance in analytical terms.
“What was important for me tonight was to throw strikes and get ahead,” he said after becoming just the third pitcher in franchise history to record consecutive outings of at least eight scoreless innings. The other were Ubaldo Jimenez from May 26-31, 2010, and Jason Marquis from June 30July 6, 2009.
Anderson’s eight innings Wednesday night featured just two San Francisco singles, nine strikeouts and two walks. He has now pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings over his last two starts, giving up a total of six hits.
Anderson, who often relies on his changeup as his putaway pitch, went more to his cutter Wednesday night.
“It was helpful because I’ve pitched to the (Giants) a lot and I’ve thrown them changeups,” Anderson added. “If they want to sit on changeups, it helps to have something to equalize that.”
Manager Bud Black labled Anderson’s performance as “outstanding.”
“There were a couple of blips, but not many,” Black continued, noting that Anderson fell behind Austin Slater 30 in the seventh and then came back to strike him out.
By sweeping three games from the Giants, the Rockies (4443) notched their fifth win in their last six games and crawled back over .500 for the first time since June 8.
“It was huge,” third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “It was especially big to get the (sweep) at home, where we really haven’t played very well. To get this, going into an off day was super nice, because it wouldn’t have been cool to lose a game like this after the way Tyler pitched.”
Iannetta finally broke the stalemate with his oneout blast off Giants lefthander Andrew Suarez, the ball soaring just inside the leftfield foul pole. The 453foot blast required a crew chief review, but it stood up and the Rockies had a 10 lead that stood up. It was Iannetta’s seventh homer.
“It was a 32, and I didn’t know if he was going to go back to the changeup or try to not walk me in a 00 game,” Iannetta said. “And then he threw a cutter in, and I was able to get it.”