Reds 6, Rockies 5: The Rockies lost a tough one in 12

In an intense game that felt like the Rockies were on the verge of winning on multiple occasions, the Reds came away victorious. The Reds scored two runs in both the 11th and 12th innings to finish the Rockies off by a final score of 6-5.

Ryan F. McMahon hits his ninth jack of the year

With feats like Ryan McMahon keeps completing, I have decided to bestow him with the “F” middle initial, a la Peyton “PFM” Manning. McMahon hit an absolute bomb over the bullpen in the second inning with an exit velocity of 109.4 MPH and a 28 degree launch angle, and it was estimated to travel 478 feet. It was the arguably the farthest I’ve ever seen a ball hit to that part of the yard at Coors Field (Larry Walker and Bryce Harper might have each hit one that far) and was McMahon’s ninth home run of the year.

Josh Fuentes flashes the leather and the bat

Josh Fuentes and Ryan McMahon have both made it an easy transition from Nolan Arenado for Rockies fans at the hot corner so far this year. There has ultimately been no defensive drop-off at third base as both Fuentes and McMahon have looked spectacular. Fuentes made quite a few plays tonight that were reminiscent of Nolan, including this gem below.

And then he tied the game in the 11th with a 2-run double to the left-centerfield gap. He has come up clutch time and time again this season and notched a big hit for the second time this week.

Rockies bullpen answers the call ... through 10 innings

Jhoulys Chacín got the start in what amounted to a bullpen game for the Rockies and did his job by throwing a solid four innings in which he allowed two runs. Tyler Kinley came on in relief of Chacín and wasted no time, retiring the sides in the fifth and sixth innings on just 14 pitches.

Robert Stephenson, Justin Lawrence, Mychal Givens, Daniel Bard, and Jordan Sheffield all put up goose eggs in relief. There was some serious gas being thrown with multiple pitchers touching 100 MPH and a few instances of bearing down to get out of tough jams and keep the score tied through the 10th inning.

Ben Bowden was called upon to pitch the 11th inning and struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a two-run home run to Kyle Farmer to break the tie. Bowden was later removed with an unknown injury before Antonio Santos completed the inning. The Reds were then able to score twice off of Santos in the 12th inning to take a 6-4 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Rockies hitters struggle with men in scoring position

The stat that tells the story for the Rockies tonight is that they were 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position and squandered golden opportunities in the 7th (following Garrett Hampson’s lead-off triple) and 10th innings (ghost runner Garrett Hampson on third with one out), when one productive out or a hit would have meant victory. Situational hitting is so tied to the success of a club and the Rockies offense lacked the ability to come up with the big hit when needed tonight.

Up next

Jeff Hoffman returns to Coors Field to take on his old team in the Rockies, who will give the ball to Antonio Senzatela. First pitch is slated for Sunday at 1:10pm MDT and we will be looking for the weather to cooperate as well as it did today to ensure the game is played as scheduled.