If there was any team that needed a win — really, really needed a win — it was the Colorado Rockies. Their odds of avoiding another 100-loss season were sagging by the day, and they were drowning after their 10th consecutive loss at Coors Field.
Making things worse were Monday night’s near win that ended in heartbreak thanks to a Colton Cowser bottom-of-the-ninth home run robbery.
But the Rockies came to play on Tuesday and finished the evening having defeated the Orioles 4-2 and ended that home-field losing streak — their first win at Coors Field since August 2.
“I think it was a good win,” manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game. “It’s good to see the boys get rewarded with a W tonight.”
The offense (finally!) managed to score some RISP
Jake McCarthy picked up where he left off on Monday night with a lead0ff double (28). He got to third, when, with two outs, TJ Rumfield took his 65th walk, leaving runners at the corners. However, Cole Carrigg flew out to second to end the threat.
With the game still scoreless, it looked like the Rockies would waste the second inning much as they had the first with Orioles starter Kyle Bradish recording two quick outs.
And then Adael Amador stepped to the plate to hit his second home of the season run and give the Rockies a 1-0 lead.
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“All we’ve seen is good out of him this year,” Schaeffer said.
Zac Veen was in the mood to make some noise himself, and followed Amador’s homer by rattling one off the right field wall the left him (having disposed of his batting helmet between first and second) celebrating at third.
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With that, the lineup rolled over, and McCarthy hit an RBI single that gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead.
The Orioles got on the board in the top of the third when Carlos Narváez scored on an odd Gunnar Henderson-Pete Alonso double play masterminded by Rumfield.
Just watch:
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Still, the Rockies managed to keep a 2-1 lead.
Brett Sullivan got things rolling in the fourth inning by hitting a double. With two outs and Sullivan still on second, Veen had a masterful at-bat that resulted in a walk. However, McCarthy flew out to left to end the threat with the Rockies hanging on to a 2-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, after getting two quick outs, Hughes loaded the bases on a hit and two walks. Manager Warren Schaeffer went to his bullpen and Brennan Bernadino for the third out, which took just three pitches.
Mickey Moniak led off the Rockies half of the fifth with a single. But — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — the Rockies were unable to score. Instead, they continued to cling to a thin 2-1 lead.
And that was it for Orioles starter Kyle Bradish. He finished the evening with 5.0 IP allowing two runs (earned) on six hits. He struck out four and walked two.
With Zach Agnos pitching, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a lead-off single to start the sixth inning. But he was soon mowed down by Sullivan when trying to steal second, and the Orioles failed to score.
As the sixth inning kicked off, Sullivan got his second hit of the evening, a single with one out. Amador added his second hit, which moved Sullivan to third and gave the Rockies runners at the corners. But a Jordan Beck strikeout followed by a McCarthy pop out again kept the Rockies from scoring.
Jaden Hill entered the game to pitch the seventh. He got two outs, and then left a fastball up that Jackson Holliday drove over the right field wall, his first Coors Field MLB home run.
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Tie game.
After that, Alonso grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.
And then a baseball thing happened.
Leadoff hitter Mickey Moniak hit a pop up, which looked like an easy grab for Holliday.
But he dropped the ball.
Before the dust settled Moniak was standing at second with no outs.
Bored with all those walks, TJ Rumfield hit a two-run homer (14) off Luis De León, who was making his MLB debut.
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Give TJ the purple coat! The Rockies had a 4-2 lead!
“It was huge — a left-on-left matchup,” Schaeffer said. “TJ’s been awesome for us this year.”
Juan Mejia had the eighth inning. After getting two quick outs, he gave up a double to Dylan Beavers and then hit Samuel Basallo to put runners at first and second. But he struck out Leody Taveras to end the threat.
The Rockies had Sullivan and Ezequiel Tovar on in the eighth but failed to score.
Closer Jordan Roman entered to close the game. Two strikeouts and a fly out later, it was over. The Rockies won 4-2.
They Rockies finished the evening with four runs on ten hits. They had three walks and struck out six times.
In addition, they went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base.
Hughes has a promising start
It was an excellent start for Gabriel Hughes, who in previous games had labored through an inflated pitch count early that led to a shortened outing. Tonight, however, he was dealing through the first four innings.
Case in point: Please enjoy this first-inning Pete Alonso strikeout.
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That changed in the fifth.
Hughes got two quick outs before walking Narváez. Following that, he allowed Jackson Holliday a single before walking Alonso.
With the bases loaded, Schaeffer went to Brennan Bernadino in the bullpen, who got Gunnar Henderson to pop out and end the threat.
In terms of the numbers, Hughes went 4.2 IP on 78 pitches. He allowed one run (earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out four.
Hughes relied primarily on his four-seamer (49%) followed by his curveball (19%) and changeup (14%).
Although he ran out of steam at the end, this was a promising outing for the young righty though Hughes’ quest for his for MLB win continues.
“I think Gabe was really good tonight,” Schaeffer said. “I thought he kept us right there.”
The bullpen does their part
It was another long night for the bullpen, which took over with two outs in the fifth inning.
The ever-reliable Brennan Bernardo threw just three pitches to get a Gunnar Henderson pop-up.
Zach Agnos handled the sixth inning on 16 pitches. He allowed one hit, issued one walk, and tallied one strikeout.
In the seventh inning, Schaeffer turned to Jaden Hill, and it did not go well. On 17 pitches, he allowed one run and struck out one.
For Juan Mejia, it was another inning of zing-doom-zing. On 16 pitches, he allowed one hit and struck out one.
Closer Jordan Romano made quick work of the ninth with two Ks on 17 pitches.
One last note: Rockies pitching did not allow Colton Cowser a single hit, and he struck out twice.
“The bullpen was awesome,” Schaeffer said.
Up next
Join us tomorrow for Game 3 when the Rockies will try to take the series.
Trevor Rogers will start for the Orioles while Tomoyuki Sugano takes the mound for the Rockies.
First pitch is at 1:10 pm.
See you then.
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