Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | June 15, 2024
On Friday night, the Coors Field crowd of 31,717 watched the Pirates slug three home runs en route to defeating the Colorado Rockies, 5-2.
Table of Contents
Game Story
Three pitches into the game, the Pirates jumped on top 1-0. After Rockies starter Ryan Feltner retired Andrew McCutchen on the first pitch of the evening, Bryan Reynolds jumped all over a 1-0 fastball and crushed it 432 feet to right field.
All night, the Rockies struggled to solve Pirates pitching. Pittsburgh utilized an opener in Carmen Mlodzinski, who pitched a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts. Then, Luis Ortiz came on and pitched five innings, only allowing one Colorado run.
The Rockies were finally able to get on the board against Ortiz in the 5th. After Adael Amador – who made his Coors Field debut on Friday – singled and Charlie Blackmon doubled, Colorado had runners on 2nd and 3rd only down a run. However, Brenton Doyle flew out to the right field, and former Rockie Connor Joe made the catch and nabbed Amador at the plate trying to score on a sac fly. With two outs, Ezequiel Tovar‘s RBI triple bailed Colorado out, tying the game at one.
Pittsburgh responded immediately in the top of the 6th on an Andrew McCutchen home run, reclaiming the lead 2-1. The Pirates tacked on two more in the 7th, again via the long ball. Jack Suwinski hammered a hanging curveball from Ryan Feltner 459 feet into the second deck in right field, scoring Ke’Bryan Hayes and giving the Pirates a 4-1 advantage.
In the 8th, a Bryan Reynolds RBI single scored McCutchen, and the margin widened to 5-1. The Rockies scored their second run with two outs in the 9th inning on a Charlie Blackmon home run. His third of the season ultimately was not enough, as the Rockies fell, 5-2.
Quotes
Manager Bud Black on Ryan Feltner: “I thought his stuff was great. I really did. I thought he threw the ball well. He’d like to have the hanging breaking ball back to [Jack] Suwinski in the 7th. That was the backbreaker. But I thought overall… his mix was good… and we just didn’t support him with any runs.”
Bud Black on Jake Cave: “He got hit with a ball in the forehead and he went down. I think we’re very precautionary with Jake. He seems to be fine now, but out of caution, we kept him out of tonight’s game.”
Bud Black on Charlie Blackmon: “I think the timing’s there with Charlie. He’s getting to fastballs like he did in the ninth against [David] Bednar… I think with any hitter when they’re going well, they’re seeing the ball and their timing is on; they’re reacting to Major League fastballs and they’re able to hit the secondary pitches too. Charlie’s in a good spot… we need more of that throughout our lineup.”
Notes
With Friday’s loss, the Rockies have lost four straight at Coors Field for the first time this season.
Charlie Blackmon recorded his 16th career game with at least three extra-base hits, tying him with Baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton for the most such games in franchise history.
Starter Ryan Feltner logged his second-longest outing of the season (6.2 innings) while tying his second-most strikeouts (eight).
Nolan Jones made his return to the Rockies lineup, playing in his first MLB game since April 28. He finished with a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Rockies top prospect Adael Amador made his Coors Field debut, going 1-for-4 with a single.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
On Saturday, the Rockies and Pirates will play Game 2 of their three-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 MT. Probable starters are RHP Jared Jones (4-5, 3.27 ERA) for Pittsburgh and LHP Ty Blach (2-4, 4.84 ERA) for Colorado. The last time Jones faced off against the Rockies was on May 5th earlier this season, when he tossed seven innings of one-hit baseball and struck out 10 hitters. The Pirates won the game, 1-0.
Story by Noah Spirek.
Brought to you by…
Leave a Reply