The Colorado Rockies gave us taco’s once again as they took down the Nationals in the series opener at Coors Field, 7-5. That makes seven wins in their last eight games after starting the season 3-12.
1,000 (or 190) reasons to love Nolan
The game was tied 5-5 when Nolan Arenado led of the bottom of the seventh inning. He took a 1-0 cutter deep to left field to give the Rockies a 6-5 lead. Oh, and it was his 1,000th career hit.
No. 1,000 had to be a homer, right?
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 23, 2019
Here's to MANY more! pic.twitter.com/HfBjg7HYG5
It was also career home run no. 190 for Nolan, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI, and three runs scored on the evening. He also ended the game on a spectacular 5-3 double play that saw Mark Reynolds do the splits to make the stretch. So yeah, it was a pretty good night for Nolan.
Offense? Sure!
The Rockies were down 2-0 after one and 5-2 after four innings. Two weeks ago, that would’ve been a death knell. Tonight, however, there was enough offense to come back to tie the game both times. Nolan’s doubles helped key both rallies, but David Dahl, Trevor Story, Ryan McMahon, and Mark Reynolds all had key contributions, including Reynolds’ third home run of the season to tie the game in the fifth.
Oh, and Raimel Tapia hit a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the eighth (of the over-the-wall variety this time) to push the lead to 7-5 and give everyone taco’s for the second time in six games.
Good Chettis.
Tyler Anderson struggled a bit in his return from the IL, allowing five runs over three plus innings. Fortunately, Chad Bettis was able to come in and shut down the Nats for the next three innings to keep the Rockies in the game. Seven ground ball outs tend to help but his average fastball velocity sat around 93 mph according to Baseball Savant. That represents a vast improvement from his first three games (91, 90, 89), though it is a little down from his three-batter appearance on Friday (94 mph average). In short, it seems like the bullpen agrees with him so far.
Up Next
Tuesday night was supposed to feature the marquee pitching match-up of the series, but the Rockies on Monday placed Kyle Freeland on the 10-day IL. Bud Black was pretty coy in his post-game press conference but wouldn’t commit to a starter for Tuesday’s game. All we know for now is that Nationals free agent signee Patrick Corbin (1-0, 2.36 ERA in four starts) will take the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm MT.