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It was not an ideal evening for Tyler Anderson. In fact, it was his worst yet in an MLB uniform. He lost his trademark sharp command and was bitten by some bad luck in a game that turned ridiculous late, ending in a 12-9 win for the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Colorado Rockies.
The Diamondbacks first run came in the second inning on a one-out single from Kyle Jensen, scoring Yasmany Tomas who had doubled to lead off the inning. But it seemed like that would be a minor blip as Anderson proceeded to strike out the next two batters, piling up the Ks early.
Things got away from Anderson in the third, though, beginning with a Brandon Drury double and a walk to Paul Goldschmidt. Still, the rookie was one our away from escaping any damage before a broken-bat, flair single to center from Yasmani Tomas plated Arizona’s second run of the game.
Jake Lamb followed with a double to deep center and Kyle Jensen backed that up with a single of his own to make it 5-0 Diamondbacks before Anderson could finally secure the final out of the evening.
The Rockies wasted no time getting right back in the game, however, getting three runs back on singles from Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, and Daniel Descalso sandwiched around a thunderous double by Carlos Gonzalez.
But things remained ugly for Anderson in the fourth, allowing a double off the wall (that almost left the yard) to his counterpart, Shelby Miller. Matters got worse for the rookie when he threw away a would-be sacrifice bunt from Jean Segura to allow Miller to score and put the Rockies and killing some of the momentum the Rockies had gained putting the team back down by three.
Anderson’s final line: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB 7 Ks.
But, as it turned out, the Rockies offensive momentum was fine. They scored another three runs in the fifth. Blackmon led it off with a laser-beam ground rule double that bounced violently over the right-field fence. But Blackmon was picked off trying to steal third, which ended up costing the club a run. Singles from DJ LeMahieu and Arenado set the stage and CarGo plated the pair with another missile-shot double (118 mph off the bat) to right field.
Down 6-5, rookie Raimel Tapia delivered a two-out single on a big league adjustment and tied the game at six.
Then, something strange happened. The Rockies took what felt like a commanding lead, especially considering where they had been just moments before, by scoring three runs for the third straight inning.
Descalso hit his sixth home run of the season, a career best, and then Blackmon deked the right-fielder into a throw behind him, ending up with his 30th double of the year. LeMahieu walked and the Rockies two-headed tandem at the top of the lineup moved up on a wild pitch before scoring on an Arenado single to left. Suddenly, the Rockies led 9-6.
The lead evaporated just as quickly as it materialized, though.
Jordan Lyles was strung by a string of singles in advance of allowing a crushing two-out grand slam to Tomas, giving the entire lead back in one moment.
Mitch Haniger hit a monster home run to center field off of Jake McGee in the seventh to make is 11-9, Arizona. It was the first of his MLB career. Two batters later, Drury hit his 12th home run of the season on a no-doubter to left to make it 12-9 Arizona.
The only Rockies pitcher who threw at least a full inning and did not give up a run was Chad Qualls.
By the Numbers
7 – Between the two teams, seven runs were scored in the sixth inning.
3 – Carlos Gonzalez hit three hard doubles in the game and drove in three runs. It was his first game of at least three hits since August 2.
1 Million – Approximately 1 million feet of extra base hits were recorded tonight. I rounded up.
What’s Next
Game 2 between these teams takes place tomorrow evening at 7:40 MST. Jorge De La Rosa and Robbie Ray will attempt to restore some sanity to the proceedings.
