Return of the Mac: Two home runs and a Freeland gem pace Rockies victory

DENVER – On a night when Kyle Freeland recaptured his brilliance at home and the Rockies took down the team with the best record in the National League, it was the return of Ryan McMahon that fans talked about as they exited the park.

Freeland was wheelin’ and dealin’ when he took the mound Thursday night, setting the tone for a scoreless effort over six frames.

He got Andrew McCutchen to ground out on three pitches, struck out the hot-hitting Scott Kingery on three pitches, and sent down Bryce Harper on strikes to finish the first inning.

The rest of his evening would play out similarly in one fashion or the other.

In the third, a slap single to the opposite field by opposing pitcher Zach Eflin and an infield dribbler that Cesar Hernandez legged out in the fifth would be all the offense the Phillies could muster.

The Rockies were equally as quiet against Eflin, scratching four singles together through five innings.

Fate would intervene for the Rockies in the sixth: this time it would kind to the Colorado club.

Nolan Arenado would reach base on a Kingery error and Trevor Story followed with a single up the middle, just out of reach of the Phils shortstop.

That set the stage for Ryan McMahon to send a 2-1 changeup over the Bridich Barrier in right center field 412 ft to put ahead the Rockies 3-0.

The lead would not last long as Carlos Estévez hit Rhys Hoskins on the elbow and gave up a 387 ft homer to J.T. Realmuto to cut Colorado’s lead to one.

But the Rockies offense would quickly respond in the bottom of the seventh.

The returning David Dahl got denied a homer by the barrier and settled for a one-out double. Arenado singled to center to put runners on the corners and Story sailed a fly ball deep enough to allow Dahl to tag up.

Then came the encore for McMahon.

On a 2-2 slider by righty Victor Arano, McMahon sent the ball to nearly the same spot as the previous inning, only four feet farther, for a two run home run putting up the Rockies 6-2.

The two home run affair was a first for the 24-year-old infielder and his five runs batted in were the difference in the 6-2 victory over the NL East leading Phillies.

Scott Oberg did the heavy lifting for the bullpen, walking two batters but finding a way to complete a scoreless 1.1 innings. Wade Davis came on for the final three outs in the non-save situation to secure the victory and extend the Rockies winning streak to four game.

Stats

Freeland: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K

Estévez: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Oberg: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Davis: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Blackmon: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 K

Dahl: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Arenado: 1-4, 2 R

Story: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

McMahon: 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI

Tapia: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 K

Wolters: 3-4