Jon Gray looks like an ace to deliver first home series win

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies have been treading water so far in 2018. They haven’t played many complete games where they’ve shown quality pitching, hitting, and defense. And yet, they found themselves just over .500 coming into Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match with the San Diego Padres.

Searching for their first home series win and their first back-to-back solid pitching performances, the Rockies got both thanks to utter domination by a guy who absolutely needed to remind himself that this is who he is.

Jon Gray was nothing short of exquisite in a 5-2 win.

A few foul balls and a handful of potentially unnecessary waste pitches meant he had to top out at six innings, but with 11 strikeouts to just one walk and only three hits—all of them singles—this is just what the doctor ordered for the young man with the talent to be an ace in this league.

The Rockies got on the board in the second with a trio of singles from Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon, and Tony Wolters. The ball Wolters went up to get for his RBI might have been about even with his eyes, but he gently lined it into left field to put his team ahead.

They added in the third when cleanup hitter (versus righties) David Dahl made Tyson Ross pay for walking Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado to start the frame. Dahl got a hanging breaking ball and smashed it off the Bridich Barrier in right field for his second triple in as many games, scoring both runners. He scored on a sac fly to deep center off the bat of Trevor Story to put Colorado ahead 4-0.

Gray kept it on cruise control, striking out nine of the first 11 outs he recorded and not allowing a single extra-base hit. The only real jam he experienced came in the fourth with a one-out walk and single—the only time a runner would reach second against him—but this time he conquered the potential trouble frame with a strikeout of Franchy Cordero and a fly out to shallow left.

But with the pitch count over 100 (101) and his spot due up in the order, Gray would have to hand the ball over to the bullpen after six.

The Padres immediately broke up the shutout against Bryan Shaw who walked a pair of batters, then unleashed a wild pitch, allowing one to score on a sac fly, but he kept the damage limited to that.

Adam Ottavino came on in the eighth and did issue a walk but was as unhittable as he has been all season, striking out a pair to keep the three-run lead intact.

Colorado got an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a couple of singles from Ian Desmond and Ryan McMahon, and a sac fly from Wolters.

Wade Davis got the call in the top of the ninth despite it no longer being a save situation. He gave up a lead-off double to Wil Myers then uncorked a wild pitch. He struck out Cordero but Chase Headley got the groundball to score the run. It looked like Arenado both could have, and wanted to, throw the runner out at home, but he made the smart play to get the easy out at first. He struck out Manuel Margot to end it.

Without getting a single RBI from the offensive players that have had to carry the team so often—Arenado, Blackmon, and DJ LeMahieu—the Rockies were able to get a comfortable and confidence-boosting win to move to 14-12 on the year and secure their first series win at Coors Field.

Final Stats:

Jon Gray: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K

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

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Wade Davis: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K

David Dahl: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI

Trevor Story: 1-for-3, R, RBI

Tony Wolters: 2-for-3, 2 RBI

Charlie Blackmon: 1-for-3, R, BB

Ryan McMahon: 2-for-2, 2 BB

What’s Next:

The Rockies are off for a three-team road trip to see the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets after taking on the Miami Marlins for three. Tyler Anderson will get the ball in Game 1 against Jose Urena. First pitch at 5:10 Mountain Time.