Rockies defeat Rangers 12-9 in back-and-forth game

For a moment there, it seemed like the Rockies were going to blow another one, but a five-run eighth inning finally, mercifully, led to a Rockies victory. The final score was 12-9.

Charlie Blackmon took the second pitch of the game and blasted it onto the hill beyond center field for a leadoff home run, his eighth of the season. Nolan Arenado drew a walk and a David Dahl single put runners on the corners with only one out. Dahl’s hit increased his hit streak to 17 games, tying a 75-year-old record for consecutive hits in a game to begin a career set by Chuck Aleno way back in 1941. The Rockies rookie is already in the record books, and this won’t be the last time we talk about Dahl and breaking records. (You heard it here first)

Back to the game: Mark Reynolds was hit in the back to load the bases, but Rangers starter Lucas Harrell was able to strike out both Gerardo Parra and Daniel Descalso to escape the inning. Sad!

The Rangers threatened in the bottom of the second. Mitch Moreland singled with one out and Jurickson Profar walked to put runners on first and second. They advanced to second and third on a Nomar Mazara groundout, but Bettis prevented the damage and induced another groundout to end the inning.

DJ LeMahieu led off the top of the third with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Arenado laced a single up the middle off the glove of shortstop Elvis Andrus, but Andrus held LeMahieu at second. After a flyout off the bat of Dahl, Reynolds drove a curveball to the opposite field for a two-run double, scoring Arenado and LeMahieu and putting the Rockies up 3-0. Reynolds advanced to third on a Parra groundout and scored on a Descalso single to add another run to the Rockies lead. Ryan Raburn struck out for the second time to end the inning, but not before the Rockies added to their lead and went to the bottom of the third up 4-0.

The Rangers came back with three runs in the bottom of the third off of a double by catcher Robinson Chirinos, a single from Ian Desmond and a triple from Roughned Odor to cut the lead to one run.

Tony Wolters led off the fourth with a double to right and quickly scored off another double from Blackmon. Blackmon advanced to third on a sac fly from LeMahieu and scored on a line drive sacrifice from Arenado to make it 6-3.

Bettis almost made it through the bottom of the fourth unscathed. He gave up a Desmond single and a Odor home run with two outs, shrinking the lead back to one run. The Rockies rotation has been performing well and the hope was for that to continue so there would be some pressure taken off the bullpen. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The score stayed at 6-5 until the seventh inning. LeMahieu got on via walk, advanced to second on an Arenado groundout, and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Rangers’ reliever Jared Jeffress. He scored on an infield hit from pinch-hitter Cristhian Adames, give the Rockies a much-needed insurance run.

That lead didn’t last. Rockies reliever Chris Rusin gave up two home runs on two pitches to Adrian Beltre and Moreland after a perfect seventh inning, tying the game at seven apiece. Beltre’s home run barely made it over the wall in the shortest part of the park, clearing the 325-foot fence in right field by a few inches. The Rangers continued the hit parade and added a third run in the inning with a ground ball double down the third base line, leaving runners on second and third with nobody out in the inning. Scott Oberg, who relieved Rusin after the home runs, was able to strike out Chirinos to finally retire a batter. The Rockies walked Shin-Soo Choo intentionally to get to Desmond, who grounded out to short but scored another run to make it 9-7. Odor grounded out to end the inning.

The Rockies rallied though. First, a walk and a couple of singles added a run to bring the Rockies within one. With two on, reliever Matt Bush was cautious with Nolan Arenado, and he ended up walking him. The Rockies tied the game after Bush walked Dahl, who hasn’t been keen on walking thus far this season. With two runs in and the game tied, Walt Weiss pinch-hit Carlos González in Cristhian Adames’s stead (which led to Tony Wolters playing shortstop). The move paid off, as CarGo doubled in all three runners to give the Rockies a three-run lead, which they held.

In other news, Patrick Saunders reported on Twitter that Mark Reynolds is headed to the disabled list with an injury in his right hand. This could open a window for Jordan Patterson to make his major-league debut, which seems a bit overdue. That would require someone be removed from the 40-man roster, however. The Rockies might opt to choose the less interesting and potentially far less productive Ben Paulsen route.