Forget the 9-9-9 challenge. The Rockies completed the 14-8-5 challenge on Monday night.
The Rockies sent 14 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the fifth inning to go from trailing 3-0 to surging ahead 8-3 on their way to an ultimate 9-7 win against the Astros. Juan Mejia closed out the game with a scoreless 1.2 innings, including striking out Cam Smith to lock in the win and record the save.
Troy Johnston went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and two RBI, while Edouard Julien, TJ Rumfield
and Willi Castro all added two-hit nights for the Rockies. Ryan Feltner picked up the win and Jimmy Herget and Mejia were solid in relief as the Rockies improved to 4-6 on the season, while the Astros dropped to 6-5.
Fantastic Fifth
The Rockies compiled seven hits, including four with two outs, three walks, and a sac bunt, in addition to taking advantage of a fielding error to put up an eight-spot on the Astros in the fifth. The 14 batters were the most the Rockies have sent to the plate in one inning since 2018 when they did it against the Cardinals.
Get ready to re-live this rally.
Willi Castro got the party started with a single and Brenton Doyle walked. After Jake McCarthy moved them up a base with a sac bunt, Kyle Karros walked to load the bases for Julien, who ripped a two-run single.
With two outs, Hunter Goodman singled in a run to tie the game at 3-3.
Johnston followed with a lucky ball that bounced the right way when a grounder hit second base and jumped over shortstop Jeremy Peña’s head and into the outfield for a two-run double. It resulted in a humorous “I don’t know” shrug on the basepaths from Johnston.
Not wanting to miss out on the action, TJ Rumfield belted a two-run triple to put the Rockies up 6-3.
Castro, who led off the inning, then drove in another run with a single. Doyle reached on an error and McCarthy walked to load the bases for the Rockies again. This time, Karros came through with a single to make it 8-3. There were two extra base hits, but no homer in the rally.
Agnos, We Have a Problem
Herget entered the game in the sixth and gave up one run on two hits with one strikeout to earn a hold in 1.2 innings. Zach Agnos entered the game in the eighth and Houston was all over him. Christian Walker hit a leadoff single and Cam Smith followed with a double. Joey Loperfino hit a sacrifice grounder before Yainer Diaz hit an RBI single to cut the Rockies lead to 9-7.
Jake Meyers then doubled to put runners at second and third, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Peña. That ended Agnos’ night after he gave up two runs on four hits in one third of an inning. Agnos now has a 12.27 ERA in three appearances, giving up five runs on 11 hits in 3.2 innings.
That’s when Mejia came in and was lights out. He got Peña to fly out and intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to load the bases for Jose Altuve. Luckily, Altuve grounded out in a fielder’s choice and Mejia escaped any more damage. Mejia then sent the Astros down in order to earn his first save of the seaosn.
Astros Strike First
Feltner got off to a great start when he got Peña to ground out on one pitch and then sent down Alvarez swinging.
Then came the middle of the Houston lineup and the trouble. Altuve and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back doubles and the Astros went up 1-0. Walker, an infamous Rockies killer, followed with an RBI single to double Houston’s lead.
Feltner bounced back with a beautiful, three-up, three-down inning with three grounders and four pitches in the second. Despite giving up a single, he also put up a scoreless third. A few fly balls made it to the warning track and the wind might have helped keep them in play. In the fourth, Smith smashed a homer despite the wind, and Houston went up 3-0.
The Astros went three-up and three-down in the fifth and when Feltner took the mound again, he had an 8-3 lead. After giving up a double to Altuve and issuing two walks, Feltner’s night was over. Jimmy Herget bailed him out with the bases loaded, only surrendering one run. On the night, Feltner gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout in 5.1 innings. He improved to 1-0 on the season and has a 4.32 ERA.
Purple Fur Homer Coat
When Johnston smashed a sweeper 407 feet to right field in the sixth inning, it seemed like an unnecessary cushion. After hitting his second homer of the season, Johnston got a nice celebration in the dugout when the Rockies unveiled the purple fur home run coat.
In the postgame press conference, manager Warren Schaeffer said that the coat is new. He also said a friend of assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas gifted the coat to the team.
“We thought it was the perfect coat for our home run celebration,” Schaeffer said. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Hopefully, Rockies fans see the purple coat a lot more moving forward.
Up Next
The Rockies and Astros will be back in action for game two of their Coors Field series on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. Kyle Freeland (0-1, 2.89 ERA) will get the start for the Rockies, while RHP Mike Burrows (1-1, 5.91 ERA) will be on the mound for Houston.
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