Bradley Blalock’s outing wasn’t ideal, but the Rockies offense made up for it with some clutch hitting to come back from multiple deficits. Once grabbed, Colorado refused to relinquish the lead as their bullpen shut down the Angels en route to that precious 42nd victory of the season.
A good start
The Rockies have far too often found themselves finding their swing at the end of games, when things have gotten too far out of hand to realistically come back. On Friday, they managed to get a good jump out of the starting
block when Tyler Freeman opened the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff double. He’d scramble home on Hunter Goodman’s subsequent triple, Goodman’s fifth three-bagger of the season.
Goodman himself would trot home on Blaine Crim’s sacrifice fly, opening Colorado’s advantage to 2-0. That’s Crim’s eighth RBI after just a week with the team. Not bad!
After a tough top of the second that saw Bradley Blalock allow three runs on two Angels homers, Colorado’s lineup picked up their starter with more timely offense. Ezequiel Tovar began the bottom of that frame with a single, moving to second base when Kyle Karros walked. Facing a two-out situation, Freeman came through with an RBI knock into right field, plating Tovar and evening things up at 3.
As the game entered its middle stages, it was time to see which of the two young starting pitchers would find their footing first.
Fireworks in the fifth
Unfortunately, it would be Blalock. After managing to keep LA off the board for the third and fourth frames, the fifth inning proved to be another setback.
It started with a Denzer Guzman walk and Bryce Tedosio walk, setting the table for Nolan Schanuel. The first baseman took advantage, smashing a middle-middle fastball into right field for a two-run double, putting LA up 5-3. A deep Mike Trout flyout allowed Schanuel to move up to third base and score on Yoán Moncada’s sacrifice fly. Now facing a 6-3 deficit, Colorado’s bats would need to heat up again.
And would you believe it, they did!
Tyler Freeman’s third hit of the day opened the bottom of the inning, followed quickly by a Mickey Moniak single and Hunter Goodman walk. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Blaine Crim’s sacrifice fly brought home Colorado’s fourth run and, more importantly, moved everyone up 90 feet.
Brenton Doyle then doubled home the tying runs, squaring things up at 6. So much for that deficit!
After Doyle stole third base, he came home on yet another sac fly, this one courtesy of Ezequiel Tovar. The Rockies were showing fight and had managed to quickly and triumphantly overcome a three-run deficit, all while scoring fans some much-wanted taco’s. That’s a nice inning!
Excellence in Bullpenning
With a 7-6 lead in their hands, the Rockies offense seemed unable to get any more offense going. As such, it would be up to Colorado’s bullpen to hold the advantage and keep the Angels grounded.
Jaden Hill did just that, pitching a clean sixth while recording a strikeout. He passed the baton to Juan Mejia, who recorded two Ks and naught else in the seventh. Jimmy Herget allowed a two-out single, but worked around it en route to a shutout eighth, himself tallying two strikeouts.
And Victor Vodnik’s ninth? Sure, he gave up a single to Logan O’Hoppe, but O’Hoppe would advance no further once Vodnik buckled down to get Luis Rengifo swinging to end the game.
With Colorado’s relief work at times being… sub-par in recent seasons, securing an easy W on the backs of their work is a fantastic feeling. With the win, the Rockies secured their 42nd victory of the season, passing the 2024 White Sox dubious mark. We’ll take it!
Up Next
Mike Trout’s search for his 400th home run continues on Saturday when the Angels and Rockies run it back in game two. Tune in tomorrow to see LA’s Kyle Hendricks (7-10, 5.01 ERA) match up against Colorado’s Germán Márquez (3-14, 6.73 ERA).
That game begins at 6:10pm MDT. See you then!
