Two pitches after Jake McCarthy’s walk-up Led Zeppelin song rang through the speakers at Coors Field, the Rockies outfielder drilled a triple down the third base line to empty the formerly loaded bases and walk-off the Red Sox on Monday night.
The hit erased the embarassing baserunning blunders in the eighth inning and the nine strikeouts at the hands of Boston rookie Jake Bennett in the first six innings to give Colorado an unbelievable win.
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Ryan Feltner kept it close by throwing a quality start and only surrendering two runs in six innings, Brennan Bernardino threw a scoreless seventh and Victor Vodnik earned the win with two scoreless innings to close out the game.
The last hit of the game was McCarthy’s only hit of the night, and he made it count.
“Jake is awesome. He’s the best. He gets on base. He uses his legs, he’s never out of it,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “You want him at the plate at all times. He can get on base with bunts. He doesn’t strike out. I could go on and on about Jake.”
Eight hits in a row to end it
If someone asked you if it’s possible to have eight hits in a row over two innings, you might not think it can be done. But the Rockies proved it can be and used the rally to pull off a remarkable win.
The Rockies offense, absent for seven innings, finaly showed up in the eighth inning when a Colorado strung together four straight singles in a rally that should have at least put the Rockies on the board, if not tied the game. Instead, the Rockies managed the unthinkable — not scoring.
With runners on first and second with one out, third base coach Andy González sent Edouard Julien home on a Willi Castro shallow single, only to see Julien thrown out by what felt like a mile. Tyler Freeman tried to bail the Rockies out with his third single of the night, only to have Castro get caught between second and third when Mickey Moniak wiselyy stopped at third.
Schaeffer, who went 2-for-3 on pinch hitters getting hits in the eighth, didn’t question his coaching staff, instead crediting a great throw from center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and admitting the Rockies runners need to have their heads up better in those situations.
A promising rally was quickly erased and the Rockies remained behind, 2-0, entering the ninth inning. After Vodnik put up a goose egg, the Rockies didn’t let their mistakes change their never-say-die attitude.
“I don’t ever think they are out of it. I don’t care what happens the inning before. These guys fight until the end,” Schaeffer said. “You always know there is going to be fight in the next inning. You just know it’s coming, even if in the eighth, the base running was a little deflating, but we keep going. They are professionals.”
With four hits in a row, which doubled the amount before the eighth inning, the Rockies picked right back up where the left off. After combining to go 0-for-6 going into the ninth, TJ Rumfield and Hunter Goodman led of the ninth with back-to-back singles.
Cole Carrigg then came to the plate and attempted to bunt the runners over. Instead, his bunt was too good and his speed too fast for Boston, as the bunt turned into a base-loading single. Then came McCarthy for the cooler-dumping three-bagger.
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“That was incredible. Eight straight hits to end the ball game there against two world-class pitchers — [Garrett] Whitlock and [Aroldis] Champman,” Shaeffer said. “They don’t quite. We’ve been saying it all year. We fight until the end and tonight we got rewarded for it. Hats off to all of them.
“Goodman tough night at the plate and then a big knock. Rumfield tough night at the plate and then a big knock. It doesn’t effect them. They just keep going,” Schaeffer continued. “Carrigg huge bunt, Jake obviously the big one. Eddie [Julien], Mick [Moniak] good to see him back off the bench. Just good stuff for the last two innings. It was awesome.”
Feltner’s performance sets table for win
Feltner’s night started out rough, got so much better, and ended on a tough note again. When Feltner walked two Red Sox in the first inning, it seemed like a bad sign. He was able to bounce back, however, with help from a double play and was able to escape the inning without any damage.
In the second, Caleb Durbin doubled and Masataka Yoshida walked to put runners on first and second with one out, but Feltner’s luck continued as he was able to again get out of the inning without allowing Boston to cross the plate.
Then Feltner found his groove. From the last two outs in the third to the first two outs in the sixth, Feltner retired 13 straight Red Sox, tying a career-high number from last season. He only notched two strikeouts, but forced seven ground outs to make the innings fly by scoreless.
“When you start off the game and you don’t really have what you want and it doesn’t feel right, it can go one of two ways: you can completely shut down and be done, or you can keep going and fighting and get through it for your team and save the bullpen. He did more than that,” Schaeffer said of his starter. “He was outstanding through six innings to only give up the two runs in the sixth. He settled in, started pounding the strike zone. It was great.”
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But with two outs in the sixth, things went south for Feltner. Wilyer Abreu reached on an swinging bunt and Willson Contreras doubled to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Feltner then walked Jarren Duran before giving up an RBI single to Durbin. It could have been worse, but Yoshida ended the inning by lining out.
In six innings, Feltner gave up two runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts. He only needed 59 pitches to get through the first five innings, but then used up 34 in the sixth to end his night.
Other notes
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Moniak returned to the lineup after missing a month due to an ankle injury and singled on the first pitch he saw in his only at-bat, a pinch hit appearance in the eighth inning.
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The Rockies issued six walks to the Red Sox, while drawing none of their own.
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Colorado out-hit Boston 12-5.
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Every Rockie in the starting lineup got a hit except for Ezequiel Tovar.
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Vodnik issued leadoff walks in both the eighth and ninth innings, but was saved by a double play and three ground outs.
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The win marked the Rockies third walk-off win of the season, after winning their first on May 29th.
Up next
The Rockies and Red Sox will be back in action on Tuesday night. Sean Sullivan (0-1, 10.29 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rockies, making his third career start. Veteran righty and three-time All-Star Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.12 ERA) will get the start for Boston.
First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. MDT.
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