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BOSTON» Imagine, if you will … A team sets a franchise record for nine innings by striking out 21 times, ultimately whiffs 24 times (tying another team record) and doesn’t draw its first walk until the 11th inning.
Now imagine that the team in question is the Rockies. And imagine further that Red Sox starter Chris Sale strikes out 17 batters over the first seven innings to set a career high.
Finally, imagine that the Rockies somehow took a 4-3 lead, lost the lead, and ultimately won the game 5-4 on Mark Reynolds’ RBI single off Ryan Brasier in the 11th to score Trevor Story.
The Twilight Zone? Nope, just a Tuesday night baseball game at frigid Fenway Park.
“We found a way to win that wasn’t exactly textbook. … We did it a little differently,” said right fielder Charlie Blackmon after Colorado won for the fourth time in five games. “That was a great job by Mark (Reynolds) against a guy he’s probably never seen before. Two strikes, two outs and he made a really good adjustment and got a big hit.”
Rockies manager Bud Black put a big-picture spin on the win.
“This is how our guys are built,” he said. “The resolve that they have over the long haul is really, really good stuff.”
Blackmon’s two-run, eighth-inning home run stunned the Red Sox faithful and put Colorado ahead 4-3. Blackmon’s homer came off reliever Brandon Workman and drove in Chris Iannetta, who had reached on a double.
Blackmon’s homer, his ninth of the season, extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
But the lead didn’t hold. An error by Nolan Arenado (his second of the game) opened the door to a Red Sox rally in the bottom of the eighth, with Mitch Moreland’s RBI single off Scott Oberg tying the game 4-4. Overall, however, Rockies relievers were excellent, giving up that single run over five innings, with closer Wade Davis eventually earning his seventh save.
Sale was magnificent. His 17 strikeouts tied Arizona’s Randy Johnson (April 21, 2002) for the most strikeouts for a starting pitcher against the Rockies in a single game in franchise history. The last time a Boston pitcher had 17 strikeouts was Pedro Martinez on May 6, 2000 vs. Tampa Bay.
“That breaking ball had to be something tonight — the way we were swinging at it, the way we were taking it,” Black said. “I’ve seen a lot of video of this cat, and though I hadn’t seen him in person, he was on tonight. He is a premium strikeout pitcher.”
Sale’s one big mistake arrived in the seventh inning when Arenado connected on a 92 mph fastball for a two-run homer over the Green Monster, cutting Boston’s lead to 3-2. Story, who struck out in his first two at-bats vs. Sale, ignited the rally with a leadoff single through the left side.
“We needed that big hit from Nolan to get us on the board, and it seemed like we just got the big hit when we needed it,” Blackmon said.
By the end of the third inning, Sale had eight strikeouts, and he took a perfect game into the fifth before Reynolds busted it up with a leadoff double.
“At the end of the day, we got a team win,” said Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who turned 26 on Tuesday.