In a game with a very Coorsy/Rockies-Diamondbacks Game 1 feel to it, the Diamondbacks came out victorious — handing the Rockies their first back-to-back loss night of the season on Monday. It featured two starters who didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, only three completely scoreless innings, and three home runs (all solo).
Short starts
In the (G)Ray Day pitching battle, it was Ray who came out victorious (though he didn’t earn the win). Neither starter lasted very long, with Ray recording just one more out than Gray.
Jon Gray pitched just 3 1⁄3 innings, but gave up eight runs on 11 hits and struck out just two. He did not walk a batter, but did hit Kole Calhoun in the third. He also gave up a home run to Calhoun on the first pitch of the ballgame.
Gray threw just 67 pitches, 46 of which were strikes. Because of that, his ERA ballooned from 3.31 to 6.41. It just wasn’t Jon’s night.
Robbie Ray, on the other hand, pitched 3 2⁄3 innings. He gave up six runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out six. He threw 84 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Mixed bag in the bullpen
After the early exits from both starters, it was bullpenning for the rest of the game. Jeff Hoffman entered for the Rockies and pitched 1 2⁄3 innings. He did not give up a hit or a run, walked one batter and struck out three. Hoffman had some question marks coming into this season about his role and his expectations, but he has been outstanding this year. In 6 1⁄3 innings, Hoffman has only allowed one hit and no runs. He has walked two batters, hit one, and struck out seven. He and Tyler Kinley are the only Rockies pitchers sporting a shiny 0.00 ERA with more than one appearance so far this season.
Daniel Bard — former Diamondbacks’ coach — entered in the sixth inning to face his former team (and probably some guys that he coached in Arizona). He gave up a hit when he tried to field a soft grounder, but also struck out two of his former students.
Things seemed to be settling down and the Rockies seemed to be clawing back, down just 8-7 going into the seventh inning. However, the D-backs’ hitters got the best of Yency Almonte. Eduardo Escobar singled to start the inning and Stephen Vogt was then struck out. Then back-to-back base hits by Jon Jay and Nick Ahmed extended the Snakes’ lead to 9-7, and a two-run double by newly anointed Rockies’ killer Kole Calhoun made it 11-7. A walk to Nick Ahmed came around to score in the ninth to give them a 12-7 lead.
Matt Kemp hit into an RBI double play in the ninth inning off of Archie Bradley to make the final score 12-8.
Charlie summited his fifth 14-er
In case you missed it, Charlie Blackmon is on fire! He extended his now fourteen-game hitting streak with four more base hits Monday. Blackmon is now hitting .484/.514/.703 with three homers and 19 RBI in 16 games (64 at-bats). During this streak alone, he’s hitting .554 (31-for-56).
Oh, and Nolan Arenado had a really good day too. After an off-day Sunday, Arenado went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
The only Rockies starters to not record hits were Tony Wolters and David Dahl, who struck out to end the game. Daniel Murphy was the only other starter to record multiple hits (2).
Up Next
The Rockies remain at Coors Field for Game 2 against the Diamondbacks. Kyle Freeland will take the hill for the Rockies against second-year pitcher Zac Gallen. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. MT.