Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | June 16, 2024
Hunter Goodman went 4-for-5, hitting two home runs and driving in five runs in Saturday night’s overwhelming victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Table of Contents
Game Story
The last time Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones faced the Rockies, he was as dominant as one could be. Earlier this season, on May 4th, Jones threw seven innings of one-hit baseball, while striking out 10 Colorado hitters in the process.
On Saturday night, the Rockies responded, and then some. Colorado banged out 16 runs on 16 hits, highlighted by a two-homer, four-hit evening by Hunter Goodman.
The Rockies got things started in the 3rd on Hunter Goodman’s 3rd bomb of the season. His 440-foot missile to center field gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. However, Pittsburgh responded quickly in the top of the 4th, as Nick Gonzales hammered a solo home run to even the game.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Rockies added three runs, all coming with two outs. Two of the runs scored on a Jake Cave double, and Hunter Goodman followed with a double of his own, driving in Cave and extending the lead to 4-1.
The Rockies kept their foot on the gas, tacking on two more runs in the 5th. Elehuris Montero, batting cleanup in the order on Saturday, scored Charlie Blackmon with a sacrifice fly, and Ryan McMahon stole home on the ensuing at-bat, extending the Colorado lead, 6-1. The swipe of home was the first steal of home by a Rockie since Dexter Fowler did it in 2011.
The Pirates jabbed back with a run in the 6th, but the Rockies responded in the bottom of the frame with an Ezequiel Tovar RBI single. In the 7th, the Pirates again threatened to make things interesting, as they scored twice via an Andrew McCutchen homer and a Nick Gonzales RBI groundout, shrinking the Colorado lead to 7-4.
The Rockies simply would not let Pittsburgh back in the game. In the bottom of the 7th, Jake Cave drove in Nolan Jones with an RBI single, and Goodman followed with his second homer of the night. The two-run shot extended the lead to 10-4 and gave Hunter Goodman his first career four-hit game in the majors.
The Rockies pounded out six more runs in the 8th, with the big blow being a Michael Toglia grand slam. Toglia, batting left-handed, drilled a hanging slider 370 feet to left field for his fifth home run of the season and gave the Rockies a 15-4 advantage.
One more Goodman RBI gave him five on the night and gave the Rockies a 16-4 win.
Quotes
Manager Bud Black on Hunter Goodman: “He was outstanding both ways. Outstanding at the plate. There’s no question it’s a confidence builder… He’s learning about big league pitching and how it relates to his leg kick and his hitting mechanics. Tonight he showed the power that he has… Tonight is a sign of something that he can do… I thought he did a great job with Ty [Blach]… What I really loved was the in-between inning conversations. I dig that. I love when players talk to each other… it was seamless today. It was great.“
Bud Black on offensive production: “We took some walks, we put the ball in play when we needed to; Toglia down two strikes and hit the grand slam against a guy with pretty good stuff… [Against Jared Jones] we talked about the fastball. And I think that got us in a good frame of mind. I think that’s always a good plan to be on the fastball and adjust to the breaking ball.”
Notes
Hunter Goodman made his second career start at catcher and recorded a career-high four hits and five RBI and fell a triple shy of the cycle. Saturday night marked his first career multi-home run game, and ‘Goody’ became the first Rockie with 11 or more total bases since C.J. Cron on March 30, 2023, at San Diego.
Michael Toglia hit his first career grand slam, the Rockies’ third of the season.
Andrew McCutchen, now in his 16th season, has homered in five-straight games at Coors Field dating back to Sept. 7, 2022, becoming the third visiting player in history to have a home run streak of at least five games at Coors Field.
Colorado’s 16 runs in Saturday night’s game marked a season high.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
On Sunday, the Rockies and Pirates will play in a rubber match of this three-game series. The Pirates have not announced their starter for the game, but the Rockies will send RHP Dakota Hudson (2-8, 4.87 ERA) to the hill to try to earn the series win.
Story by Noah Spirek.
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