Much has rightfully been made of the Atlanta Braves prodigious rookies in Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies whose storming onto the scene has led directly to their surprising leap into contention.

But the Colorado Rockies have a pair of young players who have had far more tumultuous rides to and at the MLB level who have been coming into their own at the best possible time. Ryan McMahon once again played his part with a clutch hit, but it was David Dahl who was the key player in the Rockies 5-3 win over the Braves in the first of four in Atlanta.

Dahl has been the embodiment of the term “rollercoaster ride” for his entire professional career. And 2018 has been no different.

Getting out to a slow start in spring training only to go nuclear and fall in disappointment when he didn’t make the squad, he got his opportunities early and was beginning to cement himself into a starting role when he lined a ball off his own foot, breaking it and costing him the middle of the season.

But one thing has always been certain with this 24-year-old… when he’s on the field, he can play.

Dahl had one of the best games of his career, serving as the difference with a huge early home run and the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth.

That backed up another good-to-maybe-great outing from Jon Gray who went seven innings and allowed just one admittedly irritating rally. He did his part in keeping his club in the game against Julio Teheran who has always been tough against Colorado.

The Rockies got on the board first thanks to some well-executed small ball. Nolan Arenado led off the top of the second with a single up the middle and advanced when  Trevor Story drew a walk. Gerardo Parra lined out to right but Arenado made a smart and aggressive baserunning decision, tagging up and getting to third.

That hustle was rewarded when Ian Desmond hit a fly ball into just deep enough right-center field to score Arenado on the sac fly.

The lead didn’t last long. Kurt Suzuki jumped on a low fastball from Gray and hit a liner that just cleared the wall in left-center field.

The tie didn’t last long, either. David Dahl came up with the first really hard hit ball against Teheran in the game, lining up a center-cut fastball and pulverizing it into the right-field bleachers for his sixth home run of the season, nearly reaching the concourse.

The score held firm until the Braves mounted their first and only true rally against Gray in the bottom of the fifth. Suzuki again was in the middle of the action, getting things started with a one-out double just by a diving Arenado at third. Dansby Swanson followed with a two-bagger of his own, turning on a well-placed slider and lining it into the gap in left-center to tie the game.

Insult was added to injury when Teheran managed to throw out a floating bloop single into left, scoring Swanson from second and giving his club a 3-2 lead.

Gray faced the minimum in the sixth and seventh, striking out the last two batters he faced in the game.

Colorado couldn’t get any kind of offensive momentum going until suddenly finding themselves with a fantastic chance to either tie the game or take the lead in the top of the sixth. LeMahieu singled to right field with two outs and, puzzlingly, reliever Luke Jackson threw four consecutive balls to Carlos Gonzalez, bringing Arenado—who was 2-for-3 in the game at the time—to the plate.

But, after a wild pitch advanced both runners, Arenado hacked at some sliders below the zone, including a final one that wasn’t especially close, to end the inning and the threat.

Seunghwan Oh pitched a clean eighth, giving the Rockies one more shot at finding their way into just one more run.

The door was opened when Story reached on a fielding error by Swanson to lead off the ninth. Parra then followed by drawing a walk despite swinging at a 2-1 pitch outside the zone. Desmond was able to foul off five pitches but ultimately fell via strikeout on a held foul tip.

But in came the hero of the Dodgers series, rookie Ryan McMahon, to pinch-hit. He liked the first pitch he saw and pulled it through the right side of the infield to plate Story from second, tying the game at 3-3. In a second straight pinch-hit at-bat, Chris Iannetta came on in the pitcher’s spot and struck out but McMahon managed to steal second on the final swing.

That set the stage for Dahl to finish off his fantastic night.

Wade Davis came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to the man with the best batting average in the National League, Freddie Freeman but bounced back to strike out the man with the second-best batting average in the NL, Nick Markakis. He also got Johan Camargo while Freeman stole second. He worked ahead of Ender Inciarte 0-2 but found a little more of the zone than he would have liked with a cutter.

It was no matter as LeMahieu used his 6’3 frame to leap and catch the line drive, ending the game.

This was the third ninth-inning comeback of the season for Colorado.

They improve to 65-56 on the season and are 1.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West.

Final Stats:

Jon Gray: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Seunghwan Oh: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Wade Davis: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (S: 33)

David Dahl: 2-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI (HR: 6)

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-4, 1 R

Ryan McMahon: 1-for-1, 1 R, 1 RBI

What’s Next:

The second game of the series is set for Friday evening and will feature a pair of exciting young southpaws. Kyle Freeland will take on Sean Newcomb. First pitch at 5:35 Mountain Time.