It looks like the Colorado Rockies offense just needed an extra day to arrive in the riverside city of Cincinnati. After last night’s two-run affair, the Rockies exploded on offense tonight while largely shutting down the Reds.
A spoonful of Tommy Sugar
Tomoyuki Sugano 菅野 智之 continued his run of strong pitching for the Rockies with 5.1 scoreless innings against what has been a fairly potent Cincinnati offense. Sugano wasn’t as sharp as usual, issuing three walks with two strikeouts, but he kept the Reds off the board despite
those walks and four hits. He also had a little help from a sharp Rockies defense. In the bottom of the first inning, Ezequiel Tovar made a diving stop and threw out a Reds baserunner at home to end the inning.
After issuing a single and a walk to start the sixth inning, Sugano managed to get one final out before his pitch count and situation pulled him from the game. His ERA for the season now sits at just 2.84, the lowest of any member of the Rockies’ rotation. Only Chase Dollander—operating largely as bulk relief with an opener—has a lower ERA.
Believe in the bullpen
Lefty Brennan Bernardino entered the game with two runners on and only one out with the goal of keeping the Rockies’ shutout intact. Brett Sullivan and Ezequiel Tovar caught the lightning-quick Elly De La Cruz stealing before an easy flyout ended the inning. Bernardino would work another full inning with a strikeout before his night was done, though he did give up one hit.
Juan Mejia took over for the eighth inning and did give up a leadoff base hit, only to quickly set down the next three batters swinging.
Jimmy Herget, newly reinstated from the paternity list, had a little rust to shake off in a ninth inning that was largely a formality. All three outs he recorded were strikeouts, but he did give up two earned runs on four hits. The earned runs were via a Will Benson home run, the first home run Herget has given up since July 29th of last season.
Pizza or taco’s?
The Rockies still struck out 11 times against Cincinnati pitching—which apparently earns Reds fans a free small, one-topping pizza courtesy of LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria—but that hardly seems to matter in an offensive effort that gave Rockies fans taco’s and more. The Rockies plated 13 runs on 15 hits and drew a strong six walks against Reds pitching staff.
The game had a promising start when Brenton Doyle doubled in his first at-bat of the day and was followed up walks issued to Willi Castro and Hunter Goodman. Backup catcher Brett Sullivan then slapped a bases-clearing double to right field to give the Rockies an early 3-0 lead.
A Willi Castro RBI double in the third inning and a Hunter Goodman solo home run in the fifth had the Rockies up 5-0, but the damage kept coming. In the top of the seventh inning Hunter Goodman demolished a second home run—his eighth of the season and the Rockies’ league-leading fifth multi-home run game of the season—to score another two runs. A Kyle Karros sacrifice fly scored yet another run.
With the Rockies up 8-0 in the top of the ninth inning, the Reds chose to wave the white flag and send in catcher Jose Trevino to pitch. The Rockies didn’t take it easy on Trevino, scoring another five runs on six hits. The inning saw Ezequiel Tovar, Kyle Karros, and Mickey Moniak get their first hits of the ballgame, with Moniak’s double extending his current hitting streak to 13 games. When all was said and done, the Rockies had gone 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position. It was a breath of fresh air after yesterday’s 1-for-11 mark.
Sadly, only Jordan Beck was left hitless after the festivities. Beck went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts and currently has a .440 OPS this season. Meanwhile, Brett Sullivan and Hunter Goodman were the heavy hitters of the evening, both going 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.
Coming Up Next
The Rockies have an early start time tomorrow as they close out the series against the Reds and look for a series win on the road. Righty Michael Lorenzen will make the start for Colorado against Cincinnati lefty Andrew Abbott. First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 AM MDT.
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