Freeland, Hanigan seal series win in San Diego

The Colorado Rockies got the better end of yet another pitcher’s duel, this time between Kyle Freeland and Luis Perdomo, in a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

Freeland looked like the best version of himself for most of the afternoon. He worked all of his pitches effectively, especially the high fastball which kept hitters off of everything else. He was spotting pitches in all quadrants of the strike zone and was really cruising through the first six innings having thrown just 70 pitches and allowed two hits.

He didn’t walk a batter until there was an out in the seventh.

Perdomo was almost as good, but the Rockies were able to manufacture a run in the second.

Ian Desmond made his speed a weapon again, beating out a groundball on the infield for a single to lead off the inning. Mark Reynolds followed with a single of the more traditional variety and the first run of the game came in to score on a single from former Padre Alexi Amarista.

Desmond has seven hits, and two home runs, in the four games since returning to the Rockies lineup from the disabled list. He played left field today with Mark Reynolds, who went 2-for-4, at first.

Ryan Hanigan gave the Rockies an insurance run in the seventh with the 29th home run of his career. It was his first with Colorado in his first game since being called up to replace Tony Wolters who is recovering from a concussion.

As mentioned above, Freeland granted a free pass with an out in the seventh and it came back to bite him on a Hunter Renfroe double. The rookie southpaw walked the next batter and that was it as he gave way to the Rockies oft-relied-upon bullpen.

His final line: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 B, 4 K.

Scott Oberg came into his biggest situation of the season — two on, one out in a one-run game — and struck out Cory Spangenberg on three pitches. He then gave way to the returning Mike Dunn who got a quick groundout to second to end the seventh-inning threat.

Adam Ottavino opened the eighth inning incredibly wild, walking Luis Sardinas and Manuel Margot to lead off the frame. He threw only one of his first 11 pitches for strikes. Ottavino got Eric Aybar pop out to left but issued his third free pass of the inning to Wil Myers, leaving a tough situation for Jake McGee. It seemed like both Hanigan and the home plate umpire were having trouble seeing Otto’s signature slider but he was still pretty wild and it ended up hurting the club.

McGee did his best, getting a weak infield flare to short. It looked like Amarista might have a play on it in the air but it fell just in front of him, then it looked like he had an easy force play at the plate but he opted to attempt an inning-ending double play. But the time it took for the ball to fall in meant the relay throw was just late and the game was tied at two. McGee got a pop out to conclude the frustrating inning for Colorado.

McGee stayed on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and gave up a one-out single to Spangenberg before a scary moment when Hector Sanchez lost his bat and it struck a fan just behind the Rockies dugout. There was a long delay and after it McGee got Sanchez to pop out. But Sardinas came through with a two-out single and Margot walked to load the bases and raise heart rates. The Rockies veteran lefty kept his cool and came right at Aybar with three fastballs and getting the pop out to center field.

The Rockies loaded the bases in the 11th and Hanigan came through with an infield single and his second clutch RBI of the game. The 36-year-old catcher has played 647 games in MLB for the Reds, Rays, Red Sox, and now the Rockies for whom he was the difference maker in his debut. Also, he apparently has a thing for the letter R.

Greg Holland recorded his 12th save of the season. He pulled ahead of Craig Kimbrel of the Boston Red Sox to take the lead in that category.

With three singles, a shallow home run and a clutch hit from a veteran catcher, and some brilliant pitching, the Rockies won the game and the series, moving to 18-11 on the season. They have taken a game-and-a-half lead in the NL West wth the Diamondbacks losing their last two.