Led by outstanding work from Colorado’s pitching staff, backed by a relentless offense, the Rockies top the Royals in a 13-2 blow out at Surprise Stadium. A day of quite a few pleasant surprises for the Colorado Rockies.
Jordan Lyles threw four perfect innings to start the game, with two strikeouts and eight groundouts in 50 pitches. Lyles’ ERA now sits at a very attractive 0.82. These games may not count, but what Jordan Lyles has done with his spring undoubtedly has Walt Weiss and the Rockies excited about the young right hander’s second year in purple.
Lyles’ efforts did not go unsupported by his teammates; Nolan Arenado proved, once again, that he’s superhuman, going 3-4 with two home runs within the first two innings, a single and 5 RBIs on the day. Matt McBride got in on the fun with a solo dinger off of Vargas in the second. He would collect two hits in his three at bats.
The bats continued to show out for the Rockies with doubles from Dustin Garneau and Brian Humphries, triples from Corey Dickerson and Ryan Casteel, and other base hit RBIs from Drew Stubbs and Christhian Adames.
Kraig Sitton came on to pitch the fifth inning and stumbled a bit, giving up two runs on two hits, including a solo home run from Kendrys Morales. Moises Sierra would score on a Rafael Ynoa throwing error. Rafael Betancourt threw 2/3 of the sixth inning before being struck in the face by a sharp liner off the bat of Brett Eibner. The ball glanced off of Betancourt’s glove before making contact. He was taken out of the game, has shown no concussion symptoms, and is reportedly doing well.
#Rockies RHP Rafael Betancourt, hit with line drive in right side of jaw, says it's no big deal. He ate after the game
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) March 19, 2015
Aaron Laffey would finish off the inning. Axford, Ottavino and Brothers wrapped up the final three frames for the Rockies, each notching a strikeout.
The Rockies claim a 2-0 spring record over the Royals in their landslide victory, the two won’t meet up again for the remainder of the 2015 regular season.