After blowing a four run lead in New York on Wednesday and coming back from a three run deficit in the eighth only to lose last night, it seemed like it couldn't get much worse for the Rockies. Tonight it did.
After a disastrous seventh inning that left them in an 8-3 hole, Colorado climbed all the way back to take the lead going into the ninth inning, only to see it slip away in the cruelest of fashions. It was the longest nine-inning game in National League history, and it began in daylight with Tyler Anderson on the mound.
Anderson's night began poorly, as he allowed the first three batters of the game to reach base. He got two strikeouts but gave up a sacrifice fly to Jake Lamb that gave the D'Backs a 1-0 lead.
Arizona would expand on that lead in the second on a Jean Segura double that plated Chris Herrmann. That would be all Tyler Anderson would allow, as he went 5 2/3 innings and struck out an impressive eight batters while walking two.
The Rockies' third inning mirrored the top of the first, as Colorado loaded the bases only to push a single run across on a Ryan Raburn sac-fly.
Yasmany Tomas saved a run for the D'Backs in the fourth on a diving catch that robbed DJ LeMahieu of what would have been an RBI single. DJ's luck would turn the next time he came up to bat in the sixth.
With Brandon Barnes on second and Daniel Descalso at first with two outs, LeMahieu hit what seemed to be an easy ground ball to third, but it ate Jake Lamb up and he misfired to first in his haste to recover. Both runners scored and the Rockies led 3-2 despite failing to record a hit with runners in scoring position.
Lamb's revenge was swift, as he hit a two-run triple off Boone Logan in the top of the seventh to put Arizona back up 4-3. The runs were charged to Miguel Castro, who continued to struggle in his return from the disabled list.
Chris Herrmann added a run to the lead and forced Logan from the game after his worst outing of 2016. Jason Motte, who allowed a walk-off home run on his second pitch on Wednesday, gave up a long three-run bomb to Yasmany Tomas on his very first offering tonight. That made the score 8-3 and appeared to put the game out of reach. But it didn't.
The Rockies got two back in the seventh on a Cristhian Adames groundout and a pinch-hit Trevor Story single. Then in the eighth they got a leadoff double from DJ LeMahieu, who scored on an Arenado double that made it 8-6. With the game on the line, Adames came to the plate. He fell behind 0-2, but worked the count full before hitting an RBI single on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
Then the D'Backs bit themselves in the tail again. A wild pitch by Randall Delgado tied the score before another Jake Lamb error allowed Brandon Barnes to reach safely. The stage was set for Carlos Gonzalez, who came up in a nearly identical situation last night only to strike out and injure himself in the process. This time he hit an RBI single that gave the Rockies an improbable 9-8 lead going into the ninth.
It didn't last long, as Carlos Estevez lost the game in the ninth for the second night in a row. It started with a one-out solo home run by Yasmany Tomas that tied the game. Then Jean Segura doubled with two outs, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Michael Bourn single that gave Arizona a 10-9 lead.
The Rockies should have tied the game in the bottom of the ninth after having first and third with nobody out, but Nolan Arenado ran himself into an out and Nick Hundley missed a walk-off home run by about two feet. It still would have tied the game if Arenado had been on third. Adames weakly grounded out to end the game.
The Rockies will attempt to drag themselves out of bed and make it to the ballpark for a 2:10 MDT game tomorrow.
I don't want to show you this win probability graph, but it is my duty.
Source: FanGraphs