Nick Hundley lifts Colorado Rockies to 6-5 win over Philadelphia Phillies

Colorado Rockies catcher Nick Hundley had a lot to say recently about his team's struggles.

"We can't just sit here and hope and wish and think it's OK," Hundley told Nick Groke of The Denver Post on Monday. "We have to play better as a team, all the way around — offensively, defensively, situationally, starters, bullpen. We have to play better — to a man."

Several of those men stepped up on Tuesday, but none more so than Hundley, who delivered a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Rockies to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Coors Field. Hundley got ahold of a 1-2 pitch from Phillies reliever Justin De Fratus and sent it over the wall in the deepest part of the ballpark, helping his team overcome a poor relief outing from Boone Logan.

Logan, whom the Rockies signed to a $16.5 million contract prior to last season, surrendered a pair of runs on three hits and a walk while recording just one out in the eighth. The veteran reliever's blowup spoiled a strong start from Chad Bettis, who allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings but didn't walk a batter and struck out five.

Fortunately for Logan and the Rockies, Scott Oberg took over with one out in the seventh and induced a ground-ball double play off the bat of Carlos Ruiz. That set the stage for Hundley's heroics, which were briefly in doubt when umpires reviewed whether his fly ball made it over the wall. But unlike the call in the top half of the inning in which Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera was granted first on a hit-by-pitch that actually bounced off the knob of his bat, the umps got this one right.

Hundley led the Rockies with two hits and two runs batted in. Troy Tulowitzki added a pair of RBI on a two-run bloop double in the seventh inning. Wilin Rosario also knocked in two runs, both coming on a first-inning triple.

The Rockies struck out 10 times against Phillies pitchers, marking the seventh consecutive game in which they've racked up double-digit whiffs on offense. Colorado is now alone in second place for the longest such streak in MLB history, trailing only the 2011 Padres, who accomplished the unfortunate feat in eight consecutive contests.

Source: FanGraphs