Late blasts back up great night from Gray in Rox win over Reds

It wasn’t exactly the statement win the Colorado Rockies were looking for out of the break but they got more great signs out of the Wolf of Blake Street and just enough hitting to top the Cincinnati Reds in the first of three by a score of 3-2.

The contest featured an excellent and interesting pitching match-up between a pair of Grays. Sonny took the rock for the Reds and Jon called upon for Colorado.

Both pitchers cruised through the first five innings, keeping the ball low and scattering three singles, two for the home team and one for the visitors.

With one out in the sixth, Curt Casali lifted a soft single into shallow right field, just the fourth hit recorded between the two teams in the game. That brought Jesse Winker, who had struck out twice in  two at-bats against Gray, to the plate.

Gray got ahead quickly 0-2 and threw a fastball low that Winker swung way late on, but the Rockies were shifted heavily to the right and what would have been a ground ball double play in a normal setup went instead for an RBI triple once the grounder took a weird bounce off the side wall.

Joey Votto strode to the plate and immediately choked up with intent to drive the runner in from third but Gray unleashed some of his best offerings of the night to strike out a man who is among the most difficult in all of baseball to fan in those situations.

Not only that, but, likely assuming Votto would get the ball in play, Winker was caught off the bag at third by catcher Tony Wolters who fired down and got a nice athletic tag from Nolan Arenado for the out once Winker came off the bag.

Colorado took advantage of escaping further damage by issuing an immediate counter punch.

After Trevor Story flew out, David Dahl worked his second walk of the game and moved up when Arenado deposited one into shallow left for a single. He came around to score when Daniel Murphy shot one down the third baseline for a double that also put Arenado on third.

Ian Desmond walked to load the bases and for the third time in the game Ryan McMahon hit the ball incredibly hard but for the third time in the game it was right at a defender. Shortstop Jose Iglesias could have caught the ball in the air but wisely let it take a bounce to he could turn a double play and escape a potential big inning for the Rockies.

Then the Reds swung the game right back in their favor with the first at-bat of the seventh. Eugenio Suarez went out and put the barrel on a fastball away from him and just barely managed to lift it over the scoreboard in right field, sneaking just inside the foul pole for a 372-foot home run.

The Rockies missed a chance in the seventh after a questionable check swing call against a pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia and some bad base running that saw Wolters get picked off at first.

But they pounced in the eighth with huge sweeping, no-doubt home runs off the bats of Dahl and Murphy.

Dahl’s was a laser beam that went 433 feet from home plate landing in the second deck beyond the home bullpen, traveling at an exit velocity of 103 MPH. Murphy’s was a moonshot high into the night that landed 400 feet away beyond the wall in right field to put the Rockies on top 3-2.

It was the first longball for Murphy at Coors Field this season.

In an interesting move, Bud Black called on Wade Davis to close, perhaps answering the question of who between him and Scott Oberg will be the Rockies finisher to begin the final stretch of the season.

He produced two weak pop outs and a grounder to second to secure his save and the win, bringing the Rockies back to an even .500 record at 45-45.