Jonny On The Spot: Gray blasts Rockies past Reds

DENVER – Jon Gray earned the moniker “The Wolf of Blake Street” for a reason. He has never been afraid to pitch at Coors Field and in just his second home game of 2017, showed just how good he can be on the mound while also contributing on offense with one of the longest home runs in all of MLB this season, powering the Rockies to a 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on a hot Wednesday night in Downtown Denver.

Colorado couldn’t capitalize off of a lead-off single in the first from Charlie Blackmon and a sac bunt by Raimel Tapia. The bunt was an interesting choice given how well Tapia has hit lately and also that Blackmon was off on the play and might have had the base stolen anyway. Still, the Rockies got a runner in scoring position with one out and ended up stranding him there, a plague upon their house as of late. Carlos Gonzalez did manage to draw a walk to extend the inning and help to force Scott Feldman over 25 pitches in the inning but strikeouts from Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds left the scoreboard blank.

In the top of the second, Scooter Gennett reached on an error by shortstop Pat Valaika who was filling in for Trevor Story. Gennett also scooted (sorry) to second, swiping the bag without giving away an out and putting the Reds in a position where they could get a run without ever recording a hit. Gray dialed in, though, and showcased the swing-and-miss stuff that he has made his name on, striking out Scott Schebler on the strength of four wicked sliders. Schebler, while not a household name, is having a fantastic season and has already hurt the Rockies on several occasions this season.

It looked like the Rockies would again strand a lead-off single, this time from Valaika, in the second but with two outs Gray — believe it or not — took a hanging slider and smashed the longest home run of any Rockie this season and the 14th longest in MLB. It traveled 467 feet and came off the bat at 105 mph. It was the longest home run by a pitcher in the last three years:

Jon Gray‘s first career home run, it went 467 feet pic.twitter.com/wSIl10E4bf

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) July 6, 2017

He even threw in a Sammy Sosa-like hop once he realized he had absolutely tagged the pitch. It was also Gray’s first hit this season:

Yoooo Jon Gray Sammy Sosa hopped his dinger pic.twitter.com/7fZ6FofwpA

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) July 6, 2017

Feldman got a small measure of revenge in the top of the third, slicing a single the opposite way, just inside the left-field foul line, recording the first hit against Gray in the game, though he was stranded there.

All-Star Joey Votto lined a triple off the wall in left field to start the fourth and came in on a single from Gennett that scooted (sorry) just past the glove of Arenado at third. Gray was still in a bit of a pickle after walking Eugenio Suarez still with no outs to put runners at second and third. But he induced a double play ground ball from Schebler and got Jose Peraza to pop out in foul territory to escape the inning with a lead intact.

The Rockies took that run back with interest in the bottom of the frame on a single from Mark Reynolds and a two-run home run for Valaika who — apart from the error on a relatively easy play — made a case that he can get some starts while Story figures himself out a bit.

The Reds rallied in the sixth as the wave once again broke out at Coors Field. Again, draw your own conclusions but as it rolled around, Reynolds misplayed a grounder up the first baseline from Votto that was ultimately ruled a hit but easily could have been an error. Gennett followed with a more solid single to right and Votto came in to score the Reds second run on the third straight single in the inning from Suarez. The second the fans stopped doing the wave, Gray started getting outs, striking out Schebler and Peraza. His night was done after walking Tucker Barnhart having reached 108 pitches.

His final line: 5.2, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He threw 68 of his 108 pitches for strikes.

Scott Oberg inherited the bases loaded, two-out situation and got pinch-hitter, Adam Duvall, to hit a weak grounder to third but it was uncharacteristically booted by Arenado. His third error on the season allowed Gennett to scoot (sorry) home and make it a 4-3 game. But Oberg did not let the bad fortune get to him, bearing down and getting Billy Hamilton to ground out to preserve the lead. Bud Black would likely have preferred to see Gray finish the eighth but Oberg rewarded the faith his manager put in him.

He was, however, left in to face righty Zack Cozart to lead off the seventh and gave up a double before being replaced by Chris Rusin. Rusin walked Votto and the Reds had a pair on with nobody out again, but he bounced back in exactly the ideal fashion for a pitcher, scooting a fastball past Gennett (sorry) for a strikeout then getting Suarez to bounce into an inning-ending 5-1 double play. With his effort, Rusin lowered his season ERA to 2.35 over 46 innings pitched. He continues to be quietly, yet remarkably, reliable.

Jake McGee came on in the eighth and gave up a one-out single to Jose Peraza but also punched out Schebler and Barnhart before picking Peraza off at first.

The Rockies managed a two-our rally of their own in the bottom of the eighth, something that has ferociously eluded them over the last two weeks. After the first two were retired, Carlos Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and Reynolds drew a walk before Valaika came through with his third hit of the game to drive in CarGo and make it 5-3, Rockies.

Greg Holland was tasked with bettering his own franchise record for saves before the All-Star break and did so despite some tense moments. He struck out Arismendy Alcantara to begin the frame but catcher Ryan Hanigan dropped the third strike allowing Alcantara to reach first. Then he got some help from Story who came into the game as a pinch-hitter and stayed at short as a defensive replacement. It was a good thing, too because his strong arm was needed to gun down the speedy Hamilton to convert the double play, getting a nice dig from Reynolds at first.

Cozart got Holland for a single to right bringing Votto to the plate who was subsequently walked on five pitches. Gennett came to the plate representing the go-ahead run but Holland fielded a comebacker with a bit of a dive to make the final out himself, securing the win and his 28th save to just one blown all year.

Colorado improved to 50-37 on the season. They are now 10-19 when committing at least one error, 40-18 when they play clean defense. They are 2-0 in games Jon Gray has pitched since returning from the DL.