Gray rocked in opener
Arizona starts game off with homer, holds off late rally as Colorado drops 2nd straight
Pitching, Rockies manager Bud Black is fond of saying, sets the tone for a ballclub.
Monday night at Coors Field, it would have behooved the Rockies to be tonedeaf.
The Arizona Diamondback rocked starter Jon Gray for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings en route to a 12-8 win, marking the first time all season the Rockies (11-5) have dropped back-to-back games.
The Rockies loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth. But Matt Kemp grounded into a double play and Archie Bradley struck out David Dahl to end the game.
Colorado entered the game with a 2.84 team ERA, with opponents batting just .209 against its starters. But the Diamondbacks hammered out 18 hits and forced Colorado to use six pitchers.
Monday marked the first time since Sept. 22 at Dodger Stadium and the first time at home since Sept. 17 vs. the Mets that a Rockies starter has allowed more than three earned runs. The streak was halted at 21 consecutive games overall, 11 games at home.
The Rockies’ three-run fourth, highlighted by consecutive, run-scoring, two-out singles by Blackmon, Arenado and Daniel Murphy cut Arizona’s lead to 8-6. Chris Owing’s solo home run to left off reliever Alex Young trimmed the lead to 8-7 in the fifth.
Blackmon, by the way, batted 4-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and his now hitting .484. During the streak, he’s hitting a sizzling .554 (31-36). Arenado, who sat out Sunday’s game at Seattle because of a slump that left him batting .185, batted 4-for-4 with a double, a sacrifice fly and two RBIs, raising his average to .241.
Colorado’s chance for a winning rally was snuffed out in the seventh when Arizona scored three runs off right-hander Yency Almonte, with Nick Ahmed ripping a run-scoring single through shortstop Trevor Story, followed by Kole Calhoun’s two-run double. Had Story been able to handle Ahmed’s groundball and turn a double play, the game might have come out differently.
Gray’s performance almost got lost in a game that took 3 hours, 43 minutes to complete, but that didn’t take the sting out of what was only the second poor performance by a Rockies starter this season. The other belonged to Chi Chi Gonzalez. In Gray’s 3 1/3 innings, the Diamondbacks sprayed 11 hits, including a leadoff homer by Calhoun on the game’s first pitch.
Gray’s ERA soared to 6.41, but that is not much of surprise considering how the Diamondbacks treat him at Coors Field. He’s winless in six career starts with a 7.80 ERA, although the team is 3-3.
Jeff Hoffman (1 1/3 innings) and Daniel Bard (one inning) restored some order and didn’t allow a run as Colorado crept back into the game.
Arizona left-handed starter Robbie Ray didn’t fare much better than Gray, giving up six runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Story tagged him with a long, solo homer to left in the first inning. It was Story’s sixth homer in 16 games.