The Colorado Rockies erupted on offense on Friday, riding a six-run inning to outlast the Arizona Diamondbacks by 11-10 in a slugfest to start the second half of the 2018 season.
Mucho swagger grand slam
Raimel Tapia delivered what still held up as the deciding blow in this game. The Rockies entered the seventh inning on offense down 8-5 and facing Archie Bradley. They nibbled and drew walks to score and make it 8-7 with the bases loaded. Tapia fell behind 0-2 in the count but battled and then punished a pitch down and in for the grand slam.
Go-ahead slam?
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2018
Show off that bat flip, @RaimelTapia! pic.twitter.com/7EMjDOdrlm
Nolan Arenado comes out swinging
Not surprisingly, the Rockies’ star treated this like the huge division game it was with a pair of two-run home runs. He pulled the first one and hit the second opposite field, all while showing a bit of emotion for this big game.
Bryan Shaw adventure
After a rough start from German Marquez, the Rockies were looking to the bullpen to hold the lead over the final three innings. Shaw pitched the seventh and that was fine, but then Black also tried to get him through the eighth before he allowed a run. Adam Ottavino came on for the multi-inning save while Bud Black removed any doubt that Shaw will be thrown right back into high-leverage situations.
DJ LeMahieu injury
The bad news of the night was that the lanky second baseman aggravated his back again and had to leave early with an injury. It seems likely the team will make a move this weekend as a result.
Looking ahead
The Rockies will look to get another big division win against the Diamondbacks on Saturday. Kyle Freeland will start against Zack Godley.