Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | May 30, 2024
On a beautiful Wednesday night at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies secured a series victory over the Cleveland Guardians, who entered the series atop the American League.
Table of Contents
Game Story
For the third time in as many games, the Cleveland Guardians opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. After gaining 1-0 and 2-0 leads on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, the Guardians again went up 2-0 in the first on Wednesday, thanks to a string of productive at-bats. With runners on second and third and one out, Josh Naylor brought a run in on a groundout, and David Fry followed with a two-out, run-scoring single.
The Rockies responded with a run of their own in the first inning on a bloop RBI single off the bat of Ryan McMahon, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
In the second inning, Colorado’s bats exploded for a six-run frame. After an Elehuris Montero single and a Brenton Doyle walk, Jacob Stalling continued his hot hitting with a rocket double off the right field wall to tie the game. Sean Bouchard followed with a sac fly, scoring Brenton Doyle and giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead. Hunter Goodman lofted an RBI single into right field, and the big blow in the inning was a Brendan Rodgers two-run homer, extending the Rockies lead to 6-2.
The Rockies tacked another run on after Ryan McMahon was hit by a pitch, and he went first-to-home on an Elias Díaz double. When the Guardians were finally able to get the third out of the inning, the Rockies had sent 10 men to the plate and held a 7-2 lead.
After giving up the aforementioned two runs in the 1st, Rockies starter LHP Ty Blach settled in nicely. He didn’t surrender a run the rest of the way, and his final line was very impressive: seven innings, two earned runs, six hits, two walks, five strikeouts, and he picked up his second win of the year.
After Blach’s evening was done, lefty reliever Jalen Beeks pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning, and Tyler Kinley was able to get the final outs, despite allowing two runs to score for the Guardians. The Rockies ultimately were victorious, 7-4.
Quotes
Bud Black on the offense: “Good at-bats overall. We sort of stalled after the second inning but I thought we battled throughout the game… We hit a couple balls on the nose as the game went on but had nothing to show for it.”
Bud Blach on Ty Blach’s performance: “The first inning was a little bit of a struggle, he couldn’t get the changeup into play [and] the cutter/slider was not effective… From that point on, I thought the changeup came into play, [he] kept the ball down… He threw some fastballs at the top of the zone. He broke some bats inside, the cutter got a little better. It just flipped for him [after the first inning.]”
Notes
- On the six-game homestand, the Rockies went 4-2 and won back-to-back series against teams atop their respective leagues. The Philadelphia Phillies still stand first in the National League, while the Guardians are now tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the American League.
- Ty Blach’s seven-inning performance tonight marked his longest outing since Aug. 27, 2023 at Baltimore, when he also threw seven innings.
- Brendan Rodgers’ two-run homer was his first big fly since April 23, breaking a streak of 29 games since his last home run. The 29 games was the fourth-longest drought of his career.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
On Thursday, the Rockies will enjoy a day off ahead of a brief roadtrip. They will spend the weekend in Chavez Ravine taking on the Dodgers in a three-game series. In Game 1 on Friday, the Rockies will send RHP Dakota Hudson (1-7, 5.54 ERA) to the mound to counter the Dodgers starter RHP Walker Buehler (1-2, 4.26 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 MT.
If you missed yesterday’s recap, check it here.
Story by Noah Spirek.
Brought to you by…
Leave a Reply