Ryan McMahon comes through in the clutch, Rockies take series in Arizona

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In one of their toughest challenges in some time, the Colorado Rockies offense proved once more that they are nothing to be trifled with in the race for postseason positioning in the National League.

Zack Greinke brought a 2.53 ERA into the game and looked early on like he would dominate the Rockies once again. But, though the visitors were unable to grind out at-bats, they were able to break through late, and got a good performance from Jon Gray and the bullpen to seal the series win.

Ryan McMahon was the big man with the bat in this one, driving in three clutch runs after breaking open the series opener, making the young second baseman the series MVP thus far.

The Snakes struck first in the second because leadoff walks are always a bad omen.

It was Eduardo Escobar that Gray committed the sin for. Christian Walker immediately turned things into a scary situation by singling through the right side to put runners at the corners.

Arizona didn’t record another hit in the inning but Ryan McMahon tried to rush a play on a soft grounder from Nick Ahmed and dropped the ball without recording an out.

Walker was able to move up on a fly out from Carson Kelly and score on a grounder from Greinke to give the D-Backs a 2-0 lead.

The Rockies got those back in the fourth. David Dahl delivered a soft liner to right for a single, displaying the exceptional contact skills he has showcased all season.

Greinke came back to strike out Nolan Arenado but Daniel Murphy came up with a huge swing on a fastball that caught a lot of the zone, blasting it well over the wall in right-center field for his sixth home run of the season. And the games was tied at 2-2.

Gray got some help in the top of the fifth when Raimel Tapia threw out Greinke trying to stretch a single into a double with a perfect throw into second base. He then walked Jarrod Dyson but struck out Rockie-killers Ketel Marte and David Peralta to end the inning with the game still tied.

He worked out of another jam in the sixth after Escobar reached on a fielding error from Pat  Valaika who had to enter the game for Trevor Story who hurt himself also getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

The Rockies rewarded that escape act by attacking Greinke in the top of the seventh. Arenado and Murphy opened the frame with professional base hits through the infield.

Then, for the second night in a row, Ryan McMahon was the one who kicked the door down for the Rockies, ripping a double into the opposite-field gap to score both veterans and give his club a two-run lead.

Raimel Tapia and Tony Wolters threw out singles of their own to make it 5-2 before a tough-luck line-drive double play off the bat off a pinch-hitting Ian Desmond paved the way for Greinke to get out of the inning.

The Diamondbacks got a run back against Bryan Shaw in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a hit batsmen and a couple of singles. Bud Black went right to Scott Oberg who threw one pitch and got two outs to avoid any potential rally.

Then the Rox got that one back.

Dahl began the eighth with a hustle double on a bouncer through the right side. Arenado popped out and Murphy grounded out, moving Dahl to third, but McMahon came up clutch again with a single up the middle to plate Dahl and extend the lead back to three runs.

Oberg worked a quick and clean eighth to send it to the ninth.

Wade Davis, coming off two incredibly tough outings, came on in the ninth and struck out Kelly but then threw a meatball that Kevin Cron smashed over the wall in center. He struck out Dyson but gave up a single to Marte to bring the tying run to the plate. Peralta hit it hard but right into the defensive alignment to end the game in another Rockies win.

Colorado improved to 39-34. With a series win over the Diamondbacks, they also moved two games ahead of them for second place in the NL West. The Rockies aim for the sweep Wednesday afternoon.