The Rockies built an early lead for starter Evan Grills who gave them six solid innings and earned his third win of the season on Friday night at Coors Field. Rockies’ batters demonstrated patience and made a lot of contact consistently putting runners on the bases which translated into runs in four of the first five innings. Daniel Murphy hammered his fourth home run of the season and Story knocked in two runs with a double in the sixth to lead the charge at the plate. The win is the second in a row for the Rockies.
Grills gets it done again
The simulated season has been a tough one for Rockies’ starting pitchers, but Evan Grills, a minor league free agent signing in 2016, has emerged to pick up the slack. In his third ever major league start, he kept the Pirates in check shutting them out through the first five innings. He did so by artfully painting the corners and escaped a few jams by inducing ground ball outs. He struggled a bit in the sixth where he allowed four runs capped by a Colin Moran three-run homer. The final line for Grills was 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 K. He earned his third win out of three chances.
Bats stay hot
From the start, the Rockies’ offense put pressure on Mitch Keller putting runs on the board in four of the first five innings getting contributions up and down the lineup. Ryan McMahon got things started with an RBI single in the first inning. Elias Díaz was able to get Garrett Hampson home with an RBI groundout in the second. The Rockies brought two more home in the fourth with the Murphy home run and an RBI single by David Dahl bringing the score to 4-0. Trevor Story expanded the Rockies lead in the sixth with a double that scored two more and gave the Rockies a six run lead.
No sweat from the bullpen
The relief effort was solid with three shutout innings. Carlos Estévez, James Pazos, and Wade Davis combined to get through the seventh and eighth. Scott Oberg came in to close it out and earn his eighth save of the simulated season capitalized by striking out Kevin Newman to end the game.
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Up Next
The Rockies will turn to Ryan Castellani who will face the Pirates’ Jameson Taillon in Saturday’s game. There will be no broadcast, but we will have the recap tomorrow for you right here on Purple Row!