Diamondbacks roll over Rockies bullpen, split series with 9-7 win

The Diamondbacks all nine of their runs in the last five innings, including six in the last two, to rally for a 9-7 winover a Rockies team whose comebacks came up a little short, and whose bullpen proved utterly useless. Rockies starter Juan Nicasio was effective albeit inefficient, giving up just one run in four and two thirds innings of work and left the game with a 4-1 lead. However, Nicasio couldn't make it through the fifth to be in line for a victory as the five walk, seven strikeout performance had already gone 105 pitches deep when Josh Outman was called on to relieve him with two outs and the D-backs threatening in the fifth. Outman's appearance started a string of unfortunate, and sometimes downright embarrassing work by every reliever in the Rockies bullpen save for Josh Roenicke, as the Diamondbacks wound up scoring in each of the last five innings.

The Rockies offense did well in keeping the game close even as the bullpen was imploding it, scoring three runs to tie the game at seven in the eighth, and putting the potential winning run on base with zero outs in the ninth, but a strikeout of Alex White and a groundout double play by Ramon Hernandez cut that rally off with no damage to end the game.

Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, and Tyler Colvin had two hits each, Tulowitzki homering in the first inning to give the Rockies a two run lead, and Gonzalez had instrumental hits to lead off each of the last two innings for the Rockies. Jordan Pacheco hit a solo home run and Dexter Fowler an RBI triple and walked twice, and Marco Scutaro also walked twice with a hit as the offense really wasn't to blame this time around.

Josh Outman, Matt Belisle, Rex Brothers, Esmil Rogers and Rafael Betancourt all looked varying shades of putrid in their performances from the pen, with each allowing two or more baserunners in an inning or less. In the end, the flow of runs for Arizona was too much.