Rockies rumble in the Bronx, beat Yankees behind Blackmon's brilliance

New York, NY — The Colorado Rockies didn’t get much sleep last night after flying in late from Miami, but it didn’t show in their offensive performance, jumping out to an early three-run lead that they never surrendered in a 6-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx.

Charlie Blackmon literally led things off with a home run on his first swing of the game, his first of two solo shots in the game. Singles from DJ LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, and Daniel Descalso stretched the Rockies lead to 3-0 before the Yankees had picked up their bats.

The Yanks did get a run back in the bottom of the frame, and another on a rare LeMahieu error in the second but wouldn’t plate another run until an unusual play in the fifth that went down as a sacrifice fly, double-play when Brett Gardner scored on a tag just before Carlos Beltran was thrown out at second.

Arenado gave the Rockies some insurance in the sixth, launching a no-doubt (unless it was going to go foul) home run over the left-field fence. The blast moved him into sole possession of first place in home runs in all of MLB.

Mark Reynolds drove in a pair with a sacrifice and a double and Gonzalez continued a hot stretch with another multi-hit game including a double that was clocked off the bat at 118 mph. It’s difficult to hit it much harder than that. All told, the Rockies tallied eight runs on 15 hits.

Rockies’ starter Chad Bettis worked in the strike zone a lot since he was given an early lead, a smart strategy which often means giving up some contact and having to work around some traffic. He did just that, giving up two earned runs on eight hits over six innings. He only walked one batter and struck out eight.

Carlos Estevez recorded his fifth Save. He has not blown one since being named the Closer when Jake McGee went on the DL.

By the Numbers

4 – Blackmon’s multi-home-run game was the fourth of his career and the second of the season. In addition to the two blasts, he also made a run-saving sliding catch in centerfield.

6 – DJ LeMahieu recorded three hits for the second consecutive day, giving him six hits over the last 24 hours.

118 – Gonna say it again, Carlos Gonzalez hit a ball 118 mph. Had this game been in Arizona, it might have caught fire.

21 – Nolan Arenado’s 21 home runs paces Major League Baseball.

Lasting Impact

Every time it looks like the Rockies are going to slip into a coma, they come back with a couple of strong games and remind you just how much talent they have. This team will start to hover over .500 instead of under it when they grow into more consistency, especially with the pitching, but overall, the team remains on the right path.

What’s Next

The second and final game of the two-game series against the Yankees will be a morning one for those of us in the Mountain Time Zone. Jon Gray takes on CC Sabathia at 11:05 MST.