Walk-off winner punctuates Las Cucarachas comeback

DENVER – Las Cucarachas don’t die easily.

If you were one of the 38,181 at Coors Field who witnessed any of Colorado’s three comebacks on Sunday, you know the cockroaches usually have the last laugh.

The 7-6 win wasn’t how the Rockies would have drawn it up, but Garrett Hampson’s walk-off single in the tenth inning punctuated Colorado’s fourth-straight victory and secured a sweep of Miami.

The stage was set in the tenth when Hampson stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. He pulled one to left field that dropped for a hit, scoring Yonathan Daza from third, sending the cockroaches scattering out of the dugout and onto the field to celebrate the exhilarating winner.

Four hours after the finale, it began as a matchup of two 22-year-old rookies promoted in June and a superb performance by RHP Jordan Yamamoto propelled the Marlins early against the Rockies’ RHP Peter Lambert.

Miami quickly got on the board in the first with back-to-back base hits from leadoff hitter Isan Díaz (single) and Starlin Castro (double); the double to left center from the latter scored Díaz from first base to stake the Marlins to the early lead.

Colorado countered the 1-0 deficit with a solo home run from Nolan Arenado that traveled 416 ft, knotting the score at one apiece.

After that, the Rockies bats went silent against Yamamoto, who entered the game on the heels of five-straight lackluster starts. The Hawaiian-born starter exited in the sixth after surrendering two earned runs, but he’d strike out a career-high nine batters.

Lambert was no slouch either, delivering a quality start, only his third of the season and second since his MLB debut. He worked through a challenging sixth inning that saw one run scoring after a single and a one-out RBI double from Harold Ramirez. The SoCal native got a ground out from veteran Martín Prado and a line out from Jorge Alfaro to keep the score static.

Colorado notched their second run shortly thereafter when Charlie Blackmon’s solo shot to right field, estimated at 445 ft, his 26th of the year. His 19th home run at home this season was also his second consecutive game with a long ball.

In the bottom half of the eighth down 3-2 with Blackmon on first base via base on balls, Arenado hammered a curveball to left field to for a two-run shot, his 30th of the season and second of the game, placing the Rockies within three outs of victory.

After scoreless frames from Bryan Shaw and Jairo Díaz, renewed closer Wade Davis entered the game in the ninth as closer Scott Oberg was placed on the injured list before the game with a blood clot in his right arm, his second such instance with axillary artery thrombosis.

Davis walked the first hitter during a nine-pitch at bat. Lewis Brinson doubled to right to give Miami two runners in scoring position. Neil Walker singled to tie the game and Bud Black decided that was enough. With no outs and runners on the corners, Carlos Estévez retired three of the next four hitters, but gave up a sacrifice fly and double; all three runs were charged to Davis to give him a 10.97 ERA at Coors Field this season.

As heartbreaking as the events of the top half of the ninth, the third comeback from Colorado in the bottom half was equally as emotionally polarizing.

Trailing 6-4, Ian Desmond reached first on a walk, then ran to third with a stutter step in front a Tony Wolters’ ground ball that manufactured an error by the Marlins’ rookie second baseman. Blackmon singled to score Desmond and a sacrifice fly from Trevor Story brought in Wolters from third to tie the game at six apiece.

Estévez made quick work in the tenth inning to set the stage for the win, pumping his fist vigorously after a strikeout of Brinson ended the frame.

Daza started the final rally with a pinch hit infield single. He also added a staggered step, contributing to another error from the second baseman and helping Raimel Tapia reach safely. Ryan McMahon singled to load the bases against Jeff Brigham.

It was the seventh walk-off this season for Colorado and the second of this homestand following Arenado’s walk-off home run on Wednesday against Arizona.

The Rockies won the season series (5-2) for the first time against the Marlins since 2008.