The Colorado Rockies have, at least for the moment, rediscovered themselves.
Getting their third straight phenomenal starting pitching performance, this time by Jon Gray, they got the offense they needed from their star and a couple of young players looking more and more comfortable getting regular playing time to cruise to a 8-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
It’s their third straight victory, after losing eight in a row, and secures their first series win, a two-game sweep of the current division leaders.
The Rockies finally broke their drought of first-inning runs thanks to Nolan Arenado’s third home run in as many games, a towering shot over the centerfield wall that followed a Garret Hampson single to give Colorado a 2-0 lead.
They added another in the second on a pair of doubles from Tony Wolters, who barely missed his first homer of the year, and Charlie Blackmon who came through with two outs to cash in the chance.
They kept it going in the third when Trevor Story produced a one-out single and swiped second in front of a Mark Reynolds walk. In a bit of a surprise, perhaps taking advantage of the soft-tossing rookie on the mound, the Rockies executed a successful double steal, giving Story four taken bags on the season.
That meant Raimel Tapia, who has struck out too much this season, only needed to make a productive out to plate a run but he did better than that, going down to get a 1-2 slider below the zone and hammering it into the gap in right field, nearly over the wall for his first homer of the year, instead settling for his third triple, tallying his first two RBI.
Gray took a no-hitter into the fifth but was greeted by Wil Myers who smashed a hanging slider for a solo home run, extending Gray’s franchise record of having now allowed home runs in 16 straight starts.
Eric Hosmer followed with a walk but Gray focused in for a strikeout of Fernando Tatis and got veteran Ian Kinsler to ground into a double play, avoiding anything resembling a meltdown inning.
The Padres threatened again in the sixth with a Greg Garcia walk and a Franmil Reyes single but Gray worked around them, getting a long out – but an out nonetheless – from Manny Machado in the clutch spot.
Colorado widened their lead on Hampson’s first home run of the season, coming in a game where he had already extended his hitting streak to seven games, and it looks like he may just be the solution in the second spot of the lineup that the Rockies have been looking for.
Gray gave up a single to Myers in the seventh but stranded him at first with three quick and easy outs to end his evening.
The Rockies added some ninth-inning insurance thanks in large part to Hampson and Tapia’s speed.
Hampson walked to lead off the inning then Arenado reached on a fielding error charged to Tatis who was caught off guard by how fast Hampson got to second. The speedster then swiped third so was able to jog home on a flyout sacrifice from Mark Reynolds that also moved Arenado to third.
He came home when Tapia beat out the double play attempt on a grounder to short, giving the visitors two runs in the inning without having recorded a hit.
DJ Johnson came into the 8-1 game in the ninth and walked Machado and Myers which led Bud Black to take him out and go to Seunghwan Oh. The Final Boss got two outs on his first pitch, getting Hosmer to roll over one for a 4-6-3 double play but then surrendered an RBI double to Tatis to make it 8-2. Arenado made a fantastic pickup on a Kinsler one-hopper and threw across the diamond for an excellent dig by Reynolds to end the game.
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What’s Next
After an off-day on Wednesday, the Rockies return home to Denver still looking for their first home win of 2019. They will hand the ball to Kyle Freeland who hasn’t yet been his best self this season. In the first of a four-game set, the Philadelphia Phillies, darlings of the offseason, will counter with Zach Eflin on Thursday. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.
