The Colorado Rockies came into Tuesday night looking to do more than play another close game.
This time, they finished one.
The Rockies (20-32) found a way to cross the finish line, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks (26-24) 3-2 at Chase Field after tying the game in the eighth, turning a huge double play in the bottom half, and pushing across the winning run in the ninth.
After back-to-back frustrating finishes — a late loss to Texas and Monday night’s walk-off loss in Arizona — Colorado finally got
the kind of late execution it had been missing. Tomoyuki Sugano gave the Rockies a strong start, TJ Rumfield tied the game with an eighth-inning double, Sterlin Thompson set up the ninth with his first MLB extra-base hit, and Chad Stevens followed with his first MLB RBI to give Colorado the lead.
Antonio Senzatela got the win, improving to 4-0 after recording the final five outs. Ryan Thompson took the loss for Arizona, falling to 2-1.
Sugano survives the noise
The Diamondbacks hit the ball hard throughout Tomoyuki Sugano’s outing. That was clear early, and it never really went away. Arizona put 23 balls in play against him, and 11 were hard hit. Ketel Marte’s 116.7 mph double was the loudest swing, and Corbin Carroll added a 107 mph single in the fifth.
Sugano did not overpower the Diamondbacks. He managed them.
Arizona got its first run in the second, when Nolan Arenado opened the inning with a loud double to center. Ildemaro Vargas moved him to third with a flyout to right, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. In the fourth, Sugano’s only walk came back to hurt him. Geraldo Perdomo reached with one out, moved to second on Vargas’ groundout, and scored when Gurriel pulled a ground-ball single into left.
There were other pressure points, too. Marte doubled with two outs in the third before Sugano got Carroll to fly out. In the fifth, after the Rockies had cut the deficit to 2-1, Ryan Waldschmidt singled, stole second and moved to third on Carroll’s hard ground-ball single. Sugano stranded both runners by getting Perdomo to line out to right.
That was the shape of his night. Arizona kept creating stress, but Sugano kept the game from opening up. He changed looks, limited the walks, kept the ball in the park and carried the Rockies into the seventh.
Sugano finished with 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts on 97 pitches. He threw seven different pitch types: 33 sinkers, 19 splitters, 15 sliders, 10 sweepers, eight four-seamers, eight curveballs and four cutters.
That length mattered for more than the box score. The Rockies had leaned hard on their bullpen in recent days, and Sugano gave them exactly the kind of start they needed.
“Our bullpen was in bad shape, and we needed him to go a long time,” Warren Schaeffer said after the game. “He was efficient with his pitches, throwing strikes and just doing what he does with all of his pitches (and) keeping guys off balance. He’s been huge for us all year, and tonight was no exception.”
Rockies let Soroka off the hook
Michael Soroka gave the Diamondbacks six strong innings, and the Rockies did not make him work as hard as they needed to. He allowed one run on four hits, struck out two, walked none and threw 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes.
Colorado was aggressive against him, swinging at 48 pitches while taking 30. That approach kept the ball in play, but it did not produce enough damage. The Rockies struck out only twice against Soroka, which is usually a good sign, but they also did not draw a walk and rarely forced him away from his plan.
Soroka mixed five pitches, throwing 28 slurves, 27 four-seamers, 11 changeups, eight sinkers and four cutters. He did not need to overpower the Rockies. He stayed around the zone, changed speeds and got enough soft contact to keep Colorado from building sustained pressure.
The Rockies’ best chance against him came in the fifth. Willi Castro and Ezequiel Tovar opened the inning with singles, and Sterlin Thompson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Soroka had given Colorado the opening it needed, but the Rockies came away with only one run. Chad Stevens struck out, Jake McCarthy drove in Castro with a deep sacrifice fly, and Hunter Goodman ended the inning by tapping a ball in front of the plate.
That was the miss. The Rockies had bases loaded, nobody out and a chance to take control of the game. Instead, they turned it into one run and let Soroka escape with the lead.
Rockies get to Arizona’s bullpen
For most of the night, the fifth-inning chance looked like it might define the game. Then the Rockies found another path against Arizona’s bullpen.
Hunter Goodman opened the eighth with a walk against Juan Morillo, then moved to second on a passed ball by Gabriel Moreno. TJ Rumfield followed with the swing Colorado had been chasing, pulling a double to right field to score Goodman and tie the game at 2-2.
They took advantage again in the ninth. After Ezequiel Tovar popped out, Sterlin Thompson worked the count full and lined a double to center for his first MLB extra-base hit. Chad Stevens followed with a line-drive single to right for his first MLB RBI, scoring Thompson and giving the Rockies their first lead of the night.
“It was an awesome job by [Thompson] hitting a double there,” Stevens said. “Then I don’t think I could have drawn it up much better by driving him in.”
“I couldn’t ask for much more,” he said. “I’m just happy I was able to contribute and help the team win.”
That gave Antonio Senzatela a one-run lead to protect, and he handled it cleanly.
Senzatela wins the day
Brennan Bernardino entered in the seventh and finished Sugano’s inning by getting Ketel Marte to ground out. He came back for the eighth after the Rockies had tied the game, but Arizona immediately put pressure on him. Corbin Carroll reached on a ground-ball single that deflected off Bernardino, and Geraldo Perdomo bunted him to second.
That brought in Antonio Senzatela with one out, Carroll in scoring position and the game tied. Senzatela hit Nolan Arenado with a pitch, putting two on and giving Arizona a chance to answer right back.
Instead, the Rockies made the biggest defensive play of the night.
Ildemaro Vargas grounded into a 5-6-3 double play, with Kyle Karros starting it at third, Tovar making the turn and Castro finishing it at first. The play ended the inning, kept the game tied and gave Colorado one more chance.
The Rockies used it in the ninth, and Senzatela made it stand.
He stayed on for the bottom of the ninth and retired Jose Fernandez on a flyout, Gabriel Moreno on a groundout to third and Adrian Del Castillo on a popup to second. His final line was 1.2 scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and no strikeouts. It was not flashy. It was clean, and it was exactly what the Rockies needed.
Colorado finished with nine hits and went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, so there were still missed chances. They left nine runners on base. They did not play a perfect offensive game.
But they got Sugano’s length, Rumfield’s tying double, the massive eighth-inning double play, Thompson’s first extra-base hit, Stevens’ first RBI and five outs from Senzatela.
Winning feels great.
Up Next
The Rockies will continue their series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Chase Field. Colorado is scheduled to send right-hander Michael Lorenzen to the mound. Lorenzen enters at 2-6 with a 7.03 ERA and 36 strikeouts.
Arizona will counter with right-hander Zac Gallen, who enters at 2-4 with a 4.78 ERA and 34 strikeouts.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. MDT.
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