Desmond delivers, Freeland deals, Rockies sweep

Coming into the game hitting just .177 and slugging .327, sparking ire in the fanbase and speculation of transactions that should be made to solve the problem in local media, Ian Desmond could not dispense with all the chatter in one game. But he could play the hero for at least one afternoon.

With a two-home-run day, Desi was the deciding factor at the plate, backing yet another fantastic outing from Colorado Rockies pitching in a 3-2 win, earning their first series sweep of the season.

The Mets jumped all over Freeland to start the game, opening the contest with three straight singles, all solid but none hit especially hard, from Juan Lagares, Yoenis Cespedes, and Asdrubal Cabrera who has had a fantastic early season and series against the Rockies.

A sac fly from Todd Frazier was the first out Freeland recorded and made it 2-0 but he got a pop out and fly out to escape any further damage. Like… for the rest of the game.

The Denver Native would allow just two more baserunners for the remainder of his seven innings of work. He struck out eight. Considering how his day started, it was one of the most impressive outings for Colorado who has now put together a string of 10 quality starts in their last 11 games. The one outlier was a game in Miami when Tyler Anderson had to be removed for health concerns and the Rockies pitched a shutout anyway.

The nine quality starts in a row ties a franchise record. It has been done three times and not since June of 2009.

Colorado got one back in the top of the second on a no-doubt blast off the bat of Desmond, his fifth home run of the year but his first hit to the pull side. Though, with a few hard line drives that were either miraculously caught or barely went foul, you could feel this one coming.

The top of the third would see the game tied but it would be hard to see it as anything other than a missed opportunity for Colorado. It began with back-to-back singles from Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl, Dahl then stole second and Nolan Arenado put together an excellent effort against Noah Syndergaard to draw a walk, loading the bases with nobody out.

Surprisingly, for a pitcher who had six walks all season coming into the game, Syndergaard lost the feel against Gerardo Parra, issuing the free pass on four pitches, tying the game at two runs apiece. But the man they call Thor righted himself quickly, throwing a string of nasty sliders to strike out Trevor Story, and a heavy sinker to Desmond, inducing the inning-ending double play.

The Rockies had another opportunity to take the lead in the fifth, getting a lead-off double from Dahl, but after an Arenado groundout, Dahl tried to advance on a ball in the dirt and was thrown out at third by catcher Jose Lobaton. That out stung for Rockies fans as Parra followed with a double to right that would have easily scored Dahl from second. Story came up with a deep line drive to left but it was playable for Jay Bruce and once again Colorado left a promising inning empty-handed.

As has been the case for most of this road trip, the Rockies did not need the bullpen until the eighth inning. Bryan Shaw got the call, striking out the two righties he faced before giving way to Jake McGee who has struggled a bit lately. McGee walked lefty Brandon Nimmo which was clearly not ideal but got the hot switch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera to fly out to move the game to the ninth.

With closer Wade Davis having racked up a heavy workload recently, Adam Ottavino was asked to get his first save of the season and first since 2016.

It didn’t come easy. He walked Wilmer Flores after a long battle where he eventually struck out Todd Frazier. He came back to get Bruce swinging but a pinch-hit single from Adrian Gonzalez put the tying run at second and the winning run at first. Otto bore down and struck out Tomas Nido to end the game.

Colorado improved to 20-15, 15-8 on the road. They are riding a five-game winning streak.

Final Stats:

Kyle Freeland: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

Bryan Shaw: 0.2 IP, 2 K

Jake McGee: 0.1 IP, 1 BB

 

Ian Desmond: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR (6)

Gerardo Parra: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, BB

Charlie Blackmon: 1-for-5, 1 R

Nolan Arenado: 0-for-2, 2 BB

What’s Next:

The Rockies return home for a two-game-interleague set with the Los Angeles Angels. Jon Gray with be tasked with giving the Rockies the longest streak of quality starts in their history, facing off against left-hander Andrew Heaney. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.