Colorado Rockies lose 6-3 to Arizona Diamondbacks: Baseball is back

The games don’t count yet, but baseball is back.

The Colorado Rockies played a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday and it was beautiful. The game of baseball, that is. The Rockies lost 6-3 in as meaningless a result as the winner of Who’s Line is It Anyway.

Baseball is back. There were cracking bats and shouting umps, vendors selling hot dogs and that sound like a herd of horses walking on cobblestone that is made when 20 guys play catch at the same time.

Nolan Arenado drove in DJ LeMahieu in his first at-bat since bursting onto the national scene in 2015. Gerardo Parra tallied an RBI in his Rockies debut AB, and Carlos Gonzalez got his first hit out of the way.

Jon Gray, a pitcher to keep an eye on all spring, pitched two innings, giving up two hits but no runs, walking one and striking out one. Fellow promising young fireballer, Carlos Estevez, struck out the side in order in his only inning.

On the downside for Rockies pitching, Tyler Anderson and Tyler Matzek were tagged for three runs apiece. Each giving up a home run. The more important signs for Anderson this early will be his health, but the Rockies would like to see Matzek settle in quickly and will likely be careful with how they proceed.

Prospect Raimel Tapia got two hits in two at-bats because that is what he does. Unfortunately, both Ryan McMahon and David Dahl went 0-for-2, McMahon striking out twice.

But who cares about any of that?

There were signs, and visits to the mound, and the skipper, and guys most people have never heard of checking into the game in the seventh inning. There was assuredly some spitting and crotch-grabbing. Guys threw the ball really, really hard, and some hit it really, really, far. It’s springtime and baseball is back.