What a finish. With the Rockies down one run in the ninth inning, DJ LeMahieu knocked an opposite field walk-off home run to give the Rockies the win. Jon Gray had a rough start, and the offense missed a lot of opportunities to take the lead (eight men left on base), but the bullpen shut down the Diamondbacks, and DJ walked ‘em off.
The 5-4 win improves the Rockies record to 80-65. They’re 1.5 games ahead of the Dodgers for first place in the NL West and are now 3.5 ahead of the Diamondbacks.
Great signs
Besides the big finish, there are two major things to note from the game. First, Nolan Arenado appears to have gotten over that slump. He went 3-4 with two doubles and a home run. The out he made was a real bummer though. With the tying run on first base, Arenado hit a bullet that looked like it might knock Eduardo Escobar over at third. Unfortunately, it didn’t and turned into an easy double play.
The bullpen was also excellent. Chris Rusin, Scott Oberg, and Wade Davis combined to pitch five perfect innings after Gray left the game. Rusin looked like the pitcher everyone fell in love with in 2017, Oberg showed why Bud Black has come to rely on him more and more in late inning situations, and Davis just looked like himself. They came in and gave the Rockies every opportunity to win.
The two Jon Grays
There are two Jon Grays. One Jon Gray has a nasty slider that either finishes off or sets up strikeouts. The other Jon Gray has a flat slider, control issues, and gives up home runs to guys like Alex Avila. Both Jon Grays made an appearance on Wednesday night. Gray walked two batters, hit another one, and allowed a home run while giving up three runs all before recording his first strikeout. Then he struck out six of the next eight batters he faced. Unfortunately, one of those two non-strikeouts was a home run buy a guy like Alex Avila — Alex Avila in particular.
Up next
The Rockies finish their four-game series against the Diamondbacks, as well as their 10-game home stand, tomorrow afternoon. Kyle Freeland faces Clay Buchholtz. The 1:10 MT game will only be viewable on Facebook (more on that tomorrow).