They needed extra innings to do it, but the Rockies (40-34) were able to finish their three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks (38-38) in the desert, 6-4. It was their seventh straight win over Arizona and moved them into a tie for the first Wild Card position with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Rockies came back against Dbacks closer (and old friend) Greg Holland in the ninth inning to tie the game before taking the lead on a bases-loaded single from Chris Iannetta. Despite loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the tenth, Scott Oberg was able to get the win, thanks to his clean bottom of the ninth inning. The game wasn’t on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, so they missed out on 4 hours and 13 minutes of programming (excluding the pre- and post-game shows).
Not much offense
The Rockies had scored 9 runs/game over the last week, but going into the ninth inning they had just three runs on four hits (including home runs from Charlie Blackmon and Ian Desmond, who stayed hot). Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet day at the plate for eight innings.
Ahh yes, the time-honored "Tweet About Doing Damage and then Charlie Blackmon Does Damage 10 Seconds after Said Tweet" move. Our favorite move. pic.twitter.com/hYBeuIQOxl
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 20, 2019
bliterated by Ian Desm nd pic.twitter.com/ka0GBOybbQ
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 20, 2019
Then they came back in the ninth. A pair of walks, some wild pitches, and a clutch single from Tony Wolters tied the game at four. Then the team rallied in the tenth to take the lead for good.
Strange outing for Hoffman
Look at this pitching line for Jeff Hoffman. It might be one of the strangest I’ve seen for a starting pitcher in a long time.
2 2⁄3 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 82 pitches
It seemed like every at bat went five pitches or more while he was on the mound, even though he was able to limit the damage to just one run. This of course led Bud Black to have to turn to Chad Bettis in the third inning. Bettis did well for his first 2 1⁄3 innings, but he gave up a game-tying home run to Christian Walker in the sixth, his fourth inning of work.
Arenado removed
On a day when Trevor Story was placed on the 10-day IL, another exit from a top player is not what the Rockies needed. However, Nolan Arenado was removed from the game before the bottom of the ninth inning. It took until the next inning to find out it was a precautionary move.
Nolan Arenado was removed as a precaution after he fouled a ball off his foot resulting a left toe contusion during the 8th, just one day after the #Rockies lost Trevor Story to the 10-day IL for a right thumb strain.
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) June 20, 2019
Hopefully he’ll just miss the two innings and be back for the Dodgers series.
Up Next
The Rockies head to LA to take on the Dodgers for the weekend. It’s the first matchup between the two teams since the Dodgers swept the Rockies in the home opening series in April. Walker Buehler takes the mound for the Dodgers, while German Márquez will pitch for the Rockies. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 pm MT.