The Rockies came up with big hits with runners on base and totaled five doubles in an 8-4 victory over the Giants on Wednesday night. The win was Colorado’s second in a row and sealed the series win for the Rockies. The Rockies improved to 12-11 with the win, while San Francisco fell to 10-14. Colorado also gained a game on first-place San Diego, who lost to the Cubs on Wednesday.
Make it a Double
Entering the game, the Rockies were third in the NL in doubles with 48, just trailing the Phillies (54) and Marlins (50). I don’t know how many more doubles the sim Phillies and sim Marlins got on Wednesday, but the Rockies added five and now stand at 53.
Ian Desmond blasted the most valuable double of the day, one that hit off the wall with the bases loaded to bring home three runs in the seventh inning to put the Rockies up 8-1. Daniel Murphy also had an RBI double in the seventh, while Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, and Germán Márquez also hit doubles in the game. Story also tripled and walked twice, driving in a run and scoring another, Murphy and Blackmon both also scored one run apiece, and Márquez drove in a run of his own with his double. The Rockies hitters effectively earned sim tacos for their fans for the second straight game and chased starter Dereck Rodríguez (0-5) out of the game after four innings as he surrendered four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
On the Mark
Márquez moved to 2-2 on the season, pitching six solid innings with the only one run allowed coming from a solo homer by Pablo Sandoval in the second inning. He struck out seven, gave up six hits, and only walked two. Márquez found himself in a jam in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and Buster Posey at the dish, but he got out of it when Posey popped out to Trevor Story in shallow left field.
A Blowout to a Save Situation
When Márquez left the game, the Rockies were up 8-1. Jeff Hoffman then came in and managed to load the bases in the seventh, but wiggled out of it by getting NL RBI leader Hunter Pence to ground into a double play. A run scored to make it 8-2, but it could have been way worse. Hoffman and Davis both pitched in the eighth inning, and despite a few base runners and what we all fear could happen, no Giants crossed the plate. However, then Jeff Pazos entered the game in the ninth. After an RBI single from Brandon Crawford, the score was 8-3, and the bases were loaded with no outs. The Rockies sim coaching staff, and likely the fans, all panicked and put in Scott Oberg. He responded accordingly, getting Mike Yastrzemski to ground into a double play. One run scored (credited to Pazos) and then Oberg closed it out with a save when Sandoval flied out to David Dahl on the warning track.
Game Video
Check out all the action from Wednesday here.
Up Next
The Rockies will go for the sweep on Thursday when Antonio Senzatela will take on San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman in the series finale at 1:45 p.m. MT.