DENVER – Debut day at Coors Field may not have gone completely to plan, but the game was still a special occurrence with several memorable moments for the recently promoted RHP Rico Garcia and OF Sam Hilliard.
Not only was Tuesday’s game the 2,000th regular season game played at Coors Field, it marked only the fourth time Colorado had two players debut as starters in the same game and the first time since 2011.
Hilliard, doing his best impression of fellow rookie Dom Nuñez, lifted a Josh Smith fastball over the barrier in right center field for a two-run home run. The 25-year-old’s 455 ft blast made him just the eighth player in franchise history to go yard in game one of his career. Not bad, rookie.
For Garcia, the first batter faced was the reigning American League MVP. The Honolulu-born hurler got Mookie Betts to strike out on six pitches. Also, not bad, rookie.
From there, Garcia’s luck would turn. He walked two batters and bloop single into right field by J.D. Martinez put Boston on the board with the early 1-0 lead before Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a mammoth shot in the second into the third deck below a portion of the 44,101 in attendance hanging up at the Party Deck.
The fourth and fifth innings also featured home runs, by Christian Vázquez (two-run) and Xander Bogaerts (solo), respectively. The three home runs allowed by Garcia were far from the most alarming stat of his pitching; the five walks surrendered were the most given up in his 71 previous starts in the minors.
On offense, Colorado strung together 15 hits, including eight off Boston starter Rick Porcello, but eight men were left on base and the team was 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. A late charge in the 10-2 ballgame with a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth made the score appear closer than the 10-6 final score.
Charlie Blackmon notched three hits, Trevor Story and Tony Wolters had two singles each. Nolan Arenado added three knock, including an RBI double and a two-run home run in the ninth.
Defensively, it was three errors – two from Ryan McMahon – to go alongside four double plays, including an impressive 3-6-4 started by Daniel Murphy on a sacrifice bunt.
The bullpen was servicable, sans Jake McGee, who could not record an out in the five batters he faced, resulting in four more for the BoSox. Yency Almonte and Wade Davis each pitched a scoreless frame and Bryan Shaw worked two innings, beginning with solid work that closed out a seventh inning that could have put the game further out of reach.
