DENVER — The Colorado Rockies found themselves in another pitchers’ duel with the Atlanta Braves, this time at Coors Field on Thursday night, emerging victorious by the score of 7-3.
Chad Bettis and Mike Foltynewicz went toe-to-toe, out-for-out through the first six frames.
In the bottom of the sixth, Carlos Gonzalez positively unloaded on a Foltynewicz pitch that found too much of the plate, finally breaking the scoreless tie and putting the Rockies ahead 3-0, scoring Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu. The blast traveled an estimated distance of 495 feet, made a sound like your neighbors on the 4th of July, and struck the bullpen wall in right-center field with such force that some in the ballpark began to fear for its structural integrity.
(He hit the ball really, really hard.)
The Braves came right back, though, getting a single from Ender Inciarte and a double from A.J. Pierzynski to get themselves on the board in the top of the seventh.
With two outs in the inning and the game still close, manager Walt Weiss decided that was enough from Bettis and went to Adam Ottavino who struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Snyder in dominating fashion, looking very much like his old self.
Bettis finished the day with 6.2 IP, one run on four hits, four strikeouts, and three walks. He threw just 87 pitches, 53 for strikes.
Not to be outdone by Gonzalez’ mammoth shot, Mark Reynolds entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh and immediately got the run back that Bettis had surrendered by smashing a 484-foot laser beam to left center field that might have actually damaged the stadium seats. It was the fourth pinch-hit home run of his career.
The Rockies pounced in the bottom of the eighth. Trevor Story began things by getting plunked and Daniel Descalso followed with a walk, then both players moved up on a Brandon Barnes sacrifice fly. A Nick Hundley single and a Tony Wolters double later and suddenly the Rockies led 7-1.
Jason Motte was a little shaky in the ninth, giving up two runs on three hits, and had to be pulled for Carlos Estevez came in to get the final out and secure his seventh Save of the year. Rockies win 7-3.
Lasting Impact
It didn’t do much to assuage the long-term concerns of Rockies fans, but for at least one night, Coors Field was a fun place to be. If the plan for the trade deadline does indeed involve shopping Carlos Gonzalez, showing he can still hit a ball so hard that the sound could fracture ear drums was a nice touch.
Certainly, you never want to be trying to trade a guy who isn’t performing well, and everything good CarGo does just raises the price on what it will take to get him.
What’s Next
In the second straight rematch, the Jon Gray will take on Julio Teheran in Game 2 of the series. The last time these two met, nobody scored until there were two outs in the ninth inning. Naturally, the Rockies lost. First pitch is at 6:40.
