Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | June 23, 2024
In a back-and-forth affair, the Colorado Rockies emerged victorious at Coors Field on Saturday night.
Game Story
On Saturday, the Rockies used a productive first inning to take an early lead. After singles from Ezequiel Tovar and Ryan McMahon set up runners on the corners with two outs, Jacob Stallings delivered a base hit to center field, giving the Rockies a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless first couple of innings, the Nationals broke through with two in the 3rd. CJ Abrams led off the inning with his double, and he scored on a Lane Thomas single, tying the game. Thomas then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jesse Winker, and scored on a single from Eddie Rosario, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Rockies answered in the bottom of the third.
With one out, Ezequiel Tovar drew a walk and advanced to third on a Ryan McMahon single. With runners on the corners, Brendan Rodgers – making his first start since June 7 – crushed the first pitch, sending a fastball 436 feet over the center field wall for a three-run homer. The blast gave Colorado a 4-2 advantage.
In the 5th, the Nationals cut the Rockies’ lead in half on a CJ Abrams solo homer. The 23-year-old’s 12th home run of the season made the score 4-3, Colorado.
Then, in the 7th, Washington jumped on top. Rockies reliever Jake Bird struggled, issuing a leadoff walk and allowing back-to-back singles, the second of which was a run-scoring hit by CJ Abrams to tie the game at 4-4.
After the Abrams single, Bird left with a groin injury, and Justin Lawrence came on in relief. The first batter he faced, Lane Thomas, lofted a single into centerfield to notch the go-ahead run, giving Washington a 5-4 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Rockies quickly tied the game with a Hunter Goodman solo homer. He launched a no-doubter to left field, sending the ball 447 feet and nearly reaching the concourse.
In the 8th inning, the Nationals reclaimed the lead with a two-run homer by Luis García Jr. He hammered a 3-2 sinker from Justin Lawrence into the shrubbery in center field for his second homer of the series, giving Washington a 7-5 advantage.
The Rockies got one back in the 8th via Ryan McMahon’s 14th homer of the season. He swatted a fastball from Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey 367 feet to left field, barely clearing the fence.
After a scoreless top half of the 9th, with Colorado trailing by one, the Rockies mounted a comeback win with a series of great at-bats.
Back-to-back opposite-field hits began the inning for the Rockies. Hunter Goodman ripped a 1-2 pitch to right field, and Jake Cave followed him with a first-pitch single to left field. Then, Brenton Doyle pulled a hard-hit grounder into left field, scoring Goodman and tying the game. The next hitter, Ezequiel Tovar, poked a base hit to right field, and the Rockies had the bases loaded with no outs for Ryan McMahon.
McMahon quickly fell behind 0-2 but battled back to a full count against Washington reliever Kyle Finnegan. With the count and bases full, Finnegan committed his MLB-leading ninth pitch clock violation of the season, allowing Jake Cave to score the winning run for the Rockies. This provided the first walk-off pitch clock violation in MLB history, and secured an 8-7 victory for Colorado.
Quotes
Manager Bud Black on the ninth inning: “We got some pitches elevated and we got on top of them… [Hunter] Goodman hammered a ball the other way. Jake [Cave] hammered a ball the other way. Brenton [Doyle] looked like he got the split and hit it in the hole. [Ezequiel] Tovar hit the ball the other way… Really good at-bats. We squared the ball up against a guy that has been really good (Finnegan).”
Ryan McMahon on his walk-off at-bat and the win: “He threw me two really good fastballs at the top of the zone. I was taking short swings, just trying to put the ball in play and just try to really bear down… Honestly, you hate to see a game decided that way (on the pitch clock violation), but I am happy it worked out in our favor.”
Hunter Goodman on his leg-kick timing mechanism: “It’s just a rhythm thing. Syncing up with the pitcher. I like to think about it as when he’s coming forward towards me, I should be going towards him.”
Notes
Starting pitcher Cal Quantrill (six innings, seven hits, three earned runs, one walk, five strikeouts) recorded his team-leading 10th quality start of the season, and in six starts at Coors Field, Quantrill has posted five quality starts with a 3.09 ERA.
Jacob Stallings set a career-high by throwing out three would-be base-stealers. This tied the Rockies franchise record. Stallings became the first Rockies catcher to record three catcher caught stealing at Coors Field since Charles Johnson in 2003.
Hunter Goodman homered for the second straight game; his fifth in his last eight games.
It was Nolan Jones Bobblehead Day at Coors Field, the first bobblehead day of the season in Denver.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
On Wednesday, the Rockies wrap up their three-game series with the Nationals and their 10-game homestand. Through the first nine games, Colorado has gone 3-6. Scheduled starters on Wednesday are RHP Jake Irvin (5-6, 3.24 ERA) for Washington and LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 13.21 ERA) for Colorado. Freeland, who will be making his first start since April 14, has been on the IL since April 19 with a left elbow strain.
Story by Noah Spirek.
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