Playing from behind for the majority of the game, the Colorado Rockies stunned the Boston Red Sox with a late-game rally against the bullpen to secure an 8-6 victory and the series win. Contributions from top to bottom underlined yet another gutsy win for Colorado.
Freeland grinds out another start
Coming off what was arguably his best start of the season last time out, Kyle Freeland once again found himself having to grind out a start at Coors Field.
The Red Sox came out swinging against Freeland despite him looking comfortable on
the mound with his command. Nate Eaton led off the game by flying out to right field. Ceddanne Rafaela then popped up a cutter to behind first base that deflected off the glove of Willi Castro, resulting in a triple. Freeland recovered to get Wilyer Abreu to ground out to second base with the infield playing in, but then allowed an RBI double to Willson Contreras to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead.
The aggression continued in the second inning as Anthony Seigler laced a single on the first pitch and two batters later, Connor Wong launched his first home run on a first-pitch knuckle-curve to make it 3-0 Red Sox. In the fourth inning, Andrew Monasterio launched a third-pitch knuckle-curve offering to left field for a home run to extend the lead and Rafaela later delivered an RBI single for the Red Sox’s fifth run of the game. In the fifth inning, Marcelo Mayer and Seigler delivered back-to-back doubles for their sixth run of the game.
Through five innings, Freeland had thrown around 70 pitches, but Boston already had 10 hits against him. He departed after the sixth inning, having allowed six runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He threw just 81 pitches, 61 of which were strikes. He also generated 11 swing and misses, but the Red Sox just found plenty of success when making contact.
“The name of the game here at Coors is to hang with it when things don’t go your way,” said manager Warren Schaeffer. “‘Free’ completed like crazy. But at the end of the day, he gave us six innings, and we were still in the ball game.”
Rockies 3rd inning
The Rockies showed some life in the third inning as they chipped away at the deficit and made it a 3-2 game heading into the fourth inning. Kyle Karros got on board thanks to a throwing error to kick things off. Castro then grounded into a fielder’s choice force out to replace Karros at first. Tyler Freeman then chipped in a single to put men on first and second, setting up Rumfield’s RBI double to get the Rockies on the board.
Hunter Goodman then drew a walk to load the bases with one out to allow Cole Carrigg an opportunity to swing the game in the Rockies’ favor. Carrigg connected on a 90 mph sinker on the outside corner, shooting a line drive to right field that turned into a funky play. Abreu was in the perfect position to make the catch, but the ball just popped out of his glove. Freeman scored on what was deemed a sacrifice fly for Carrigg, but Goodman was thrown out at second. Unfortunately, the Rockies couldn’t add on as Jake McCarthy grounded out to end the inning.
Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger
Colorado responded to Boston’s two runs in the top of the fourth by stringing together three straight singles in the bottom half of the inning from Karros, Castro, and Freeman, who collected the RBI. However, the Rockies couldn’t figure out much else against Ranger Suarez. The lefty delivered another excellent outing against the Rockies and at Coors Field as he retired the final seven batters in order after Freeman’s single.
The Rockies chipped away early and managed seven hits against him, but he collected nine strikeouts against just one walk while registering 13 swing and misses. He threw 68 of his 102 pitches for strikes, utilizing his command to keep the Rockies’ lineup off balance and limit them to softly hit singles.
Attack on the bullpen
Once Suarez left the game, the Rockies rejoiced as the hard-throwing right-handed reliever Tyron Guerrero entered the game in the seventh inning.
After getting Castro to strike out, Guerrero plunked Freeman with a pitch and then got Rumfield to fly out. The Rockies then got a gift when Mayer botched a ground ball from Goodman that would have ended the inning, putting two on base. Carrigg and McCarthy both delivered RBI singles to make it a 6-5 game.
Troy Johnston was then called upon to pinch-hit, which prompted Boston to bring in the lefty Danny Coulombe to face him. On a 90 mph sinker left over the middle of the plate, Johnston shot the ball back up the middle for a single to score Carrigg and tie the game 6-6. With a chance to take the lead, Tovar grounded out to end the inning.
The Rockies kept up the attack mentality in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Justin Slaten. Three pitches into the inning, Mickey Moniak had a pinch-hit single and advanced to third on a single from Castro that deflected off the second baseman. Freeman then dropped a bunt that allowed Moniak to score the go-ahead run as the Red Sox only had a play at first base.
Rumfield followed with a single to put runners on the corners, followed by a lineout from Goodman for the second out of the inning. Facing yet another big scoring opportunity, Carrigg laced a ball into the right field gap for a hustle double to drive in his third RBI of the game and give the Rockies the 8-6 lead.
Having scored just three runs on seven hits through the first six innings, the Rockies had five runs on seven hits in the seventh and eighth innings. They ended up with 14 hits in total, while striking out 11 times against one walk. Four hitters ended up with two hits, while Castro had three.
Senza settles the ship
After not working for a few days, the Rockies turned to Antonio Senzatela in the seventh inning with the 6-3 deficit. Senzatela ended up being exactly who they needed as he blazed through two perfect innings on 33 pitches, striking out two, en route to collecting his eighth win of the season.
Jimmy Herget then delivered a perfect ninth to seal the series victory and his second save of the year.
Up next
The Rockies are off on Thursday as they kick off a new road trip on Friday. Their first stop will be in the Twin Cities as they face off against the Minnesota Twins. Tomoyuki Sugano (8-4, 4.31 ERA) will make the start for the Rockies, while Minnesota will send out Taj Bradley (6-3, 4.11 ERA).
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