Colorado 6, Cincinnati 5
When: 8:40 PM ET, Friday, July 24, 2015
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature:
78°
Umpires:
Home -
Pat Hoberg, 1B -
Bob Davidson, 2B -
Hunter Wendelstedt, 3B -
Marvin Hudson
Attendance:
37184
By The Sports Xchange
DENVER -- Charlie Blackmon dashed home on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth inning on Friday night, giving the Colorado Rockies a 6-5 comeback victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
It was the Rockies' fifth walk-off win of the season and just their second in franchise history on a wild pitch.
Right fielder Carlos Gonzalez hit two game-tying home runs for the Rockies, who got six solid innings from starter Eddie Butler and won for the second time in six games since the All-Star break.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Blackmon bunted for a single, his third hit of the game. The Rockies tried a hit and run, but second baseman DJ LeMahieu swung through a high fastball from Ryan Mattheus (1-2).
Blackmon was ruled out trying to steal, but the call was overturned. He moved to third when LeMahieu grounded to second. With shortstop Troy Tulowitzki batting, Mattheus threw a wild pitch that skipped away from catcher Tucker Barnhart, allowing Blackmon to score the winning run with a headfirst slide.
Reds first baseman Joey Votto tied the score at 5 against closer John Axford (3-3) with one out in the top of the ninth when he hit his 18th home run of the season. It was Votto's third hit of the game, an opposite-field shot to left and just the second homer allowed by Axford in 29 1/3 innings this season.
"It was one of the best fastballs I threw all night," Axford said. "I looked back at the video and it's down, a little more centered than away, but the ball's still down. I thought it was a popup. His strength and the swing and the Denver air all contributed to the ball being a homer instead."
Axford blew his third save in 19 chances and his second in three outings.
Gonzalez had tied the score at 3 when he led off the sixth with his 15th homer of the season. Two innings later, he homered off JJ Hoover to knot the score at 4.
It was the first multi-homer game of the season for Gonzalez, who has hit three homers in his past two games and six homers this month,
"I couldn't be more happy than I am right now because I'm giving this team a chance to win ballgames," said Gonzalez, whose homer off Hoover came on a 2-1 changeup.
Hoover said, "If a guy's on fire, he's on fire. Best thing you can do is make your pitch and give yourself the best chance to succeed. I thought I executed my pitch; he just won that battle."
Third baseman Nolan Arenado followed Gonzalez's second homer with a triple off the right-field wall and first baseman Ben Paulsen's sacrifice fly put the Rockies ahead for the first time in the game at 5-4.
Reds left fielder Marlon Byrd led off the top of the eighth with a triple into the right-field corner against Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins. After Hawkins snared shortstop Ivan DeJesus' hard grounder and kept Byrd at third, he intentionally walked Barnhart.
Pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker followed with a ground-rule double to put the Reds ahead 4-3. Center fielder Billy Hamilton missed a bunt attempt, and on the try for a safety squeeze, Barnhart ventured too far down the baseline, retreated and was thrown out.
"He's certainly one of our best bunters, if not our best," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Hamilton. "A 2-1 count where they really wanted to throw a strike, he foul-tipped it, but (catcher Nick) Hundley was able to hold on and get the out."
Hamilton then grounded out.
Reds starter Anthony DeSclafini gave up seven hits and three runs in seven innings. Butler held the Reds to one single through three innings and got seven ground-ball outs before they scored three runs in the fourth on three doubles.
"I was on top of the fastball," said Butler, who made his official start since being recalled after the All-Star break. "I was able to throw it down in the zone with conviction, moved it around a lot."
Butler was 0-for-23 when he got his first career hit in the fifth on a grounder to the pitcher. What resulted was some memorable base running.
Butler was on second when LeMahieu drove a ball into the right field corner. Butler went back to second to tag and then took off. He stumbled rounding third, got up, headed home and then fell again and was tagged out.
"Just tried to scramble around and score," Butler said. "Tripped going around third, tried to get up. Mind was going 100 miles an hour, the legs were not, so I ended up face-planting the second time."
NOTES: The only other time the Rockies won on a wild pitch was Aug. 24, 2011, against Houston when SS Troy Tulowiitzki scored in the 10th inning on a wild pitch by Aneury Rodriguez, giving the Rockies a 7-6 victory. ... Rockies LF Corey Dickerson (plantar fasciitis left foot) was reinstated from the disabled list, where he had been since June 17, and went 2-for-3. ... Rockies LHP Rex Brothers was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room for Dickerson. In three games since being recalled July 10, Brothers had a 6.75 ERA. ... Rockies RHP Christian Bergman (right shoulder inflammation) is scheduled to throw 35 pitches in a simulated game Saturday. If all goes well, Bergman will start Tuesday for Albuquerque and pitch three innings. ... Rockies RHP Brooks Brown (right shoulder inflammation) threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session. Barring a setback, Brown could face hitters and throw 25 pitches Monday at Chicago, where the Rockies play the Cubs. ... Reds LHP Tony Cingrani will join the Reds' rotation if they trade a starter. Cingrani, who started the second game of their doubleheader with the Cubs on Wednesday, was sent back to Triple-A Louisville to continue starting. ... Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu extended his hitting streak to 14 games, tying his career high set in 2013.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cincinnati |
|
Colorado |
Anthony DeSclafani
|
Player |
Eddie Butler |
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
7.0 |
IP |
6.0 |
5 |
Strikeouts |
3 |
7 |
Hits |
6 |
3.86 |
ERA |
4.50 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Cincinnati
|
10 |
1 |
20 |
.286 |
15 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
Colorado
|
11 |
2 |
21 |
.314 |
10 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |