Down to their final strike, Rockies rally to beat Braves in extras

Down to their final out—their final strike—after a brilliant performance from Mike Foltynewicz, the Colorado Rockies looked primed to drop the third game of this four-game set against the Atlanta Braves in sputtering fashion.

They had not scored a run and had only mounted one rally, but it turned out that they still had a few in them. Huge hits from Trevor Story, David Dahl, Ian Desmond, and Gerardo Parra tied the game out of nowhere. DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Gonzalez, and Nolan Arenado put it away in extras for one of the most impressive and unlikely wins of the season.

The Braves weren’t just an out—a strike on Desmond—away from securing the win, they were that close to securing a shutout in a game they ended up losing 5-3 to the purplers from Denver.

Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela worked well in his five innings, returning from a DL stint with shoulder soreness.

Senzatela’s only blemish came in the third and he nearly worked out of it. It began when Dansby Swanson, who has been a thorn in the Rockies side in every game these two teams have played this season, singled on a sharp grounder through the left side.

He was erased from the basepaths when Ian Desmond fielded a Foltynewicz sac bunt attempt and got the force out with a strong throw to second. Senzatela got ahead of Ronald Acuna Jr. in the next at-bat but the rookie was able to foul off some tough pitches and eventually draw a walk. He got the groundball he was looking for out of Ozzie Albies but it wasn’t hit hard enough to turn two, DJ LeMahieu settling for one out at first.

The next encounter was a frustrating one for Senzatela who appeared to have dotted the edge twice against MVP-candidate Freddie Freeman. But he got neither call leading to a walk, loading the bases for Nick Markakis.

Senza fell behind 2-0 but made a decent pitch on an inside fastball, jamming the .319 hitter, but Markakis was able to loop one just in front of a charging Charlie Blackmon in center field. With two outs and the runners moving on contact, two were able to score with ease.

He allowed just two more base runners over the next two innings of work.

The Rockies had their best early chance in the fourth, getting a brief two-out rally from Story and David Dahl who singled and doubled respectively. But Desmond struck out to strand them.

Jake McGee worked the sixth, giving up a single but otherwise working a clean inning. Scott Oberg did the same in the seventh.

The Braves were able to add against Bryan Shaw in the eighth, getting a single and a stolen base from Acuna Jr. who scored on a single from Freeman.

But the Rockies stormed back once they were down to their final out. Story pulled a double down the left-field line and moved to third on a single up the middle from Dahl.

Then Desmond, who had failed earlier in the Rockies best opportunity before this one, found himself in a 2-2 count then ripped a double to left scoring both runners and pulling Colorado to within one. Still just one out away from a loss, Gerardo Parra came to the plate for a left-on-left pinch-hit appearance and blooped a little sinker into left to tie the game.

After Adam Ottavino was able to strand his leadoff walk (eventually at third) in the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies got right back to work in the 10th. LeMahieu went deep well over the wall in center, his 10th home run of the season to put Colorado suddenly on top. Carlos Gonzalez followed with a double and scored on a single from Nolan Arenado to give the Rockies the 5-3 lead. And that was the final.

Wade Davis gave up a warning-track out to Albies but worked a clean ninth to end the game, earning his 34th save.

Colorado improved to 67-56 and are a game out of first place in the NL West.

Final Stats:

Antonio Senzatela: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Jake McGee: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Scott Oberg: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Bryan Shaw: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Adam Ottavino: 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Wade Davis: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Trevor Story: 2-for-4, 1 R

David Dahl: 2-for-4, 1 R

Ian Desmond: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI

What’s Next:

The final game of this four-game set will take place on Sunday afternoon. German Marquez will face off against Anibal Sanchez. First pitch at 11:35 Mountain Time.