With a fourth-inning touchdown, the Rockies sidestepped the sad narrative of their spring on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field.
Colorado beat the Giants 9-1 behind that season-high seven-run frame, snapping a four-game losing streak and claiming the series finale against San Francisco in the process.
“We finally took advantage of some mistakes,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We barreled balls to a man in that inning.”
After Keaton Winn cruised through the first three innings, the Rockies made the Giants right-hander look like a high school hurler in the fourth while erasing a 1-0 San Francisco lead.
The first six batters of that frame all registered a hit, starting with Ezequiel Tovar’s lead-off triple. Ryan McMahon (single), Elias Diaz (double), Sean Bouchard (double), Brendan Rodgers (single) and Brenton Doyle (three-run homer) all followed, tagging Winn’s pitches to all areas of the field while racking up a 6-1 lead.
“(Winn’s) fastball was up, his splitter was up, his slider was up — everything was up out over the plate, and we didn’t miss it,” Black said.
Winn finally got a couple outs after that before Charlie Blackmon tripled, extending the inning and forcing Winn’s exit that was a handful of batters overdue.
With the Rockies batted around, Randy Rodríguez came on to face Tovar, who promptly laced a first-pitch fastball to left for a double that scored Blackmon.
That extra point extended the home team advantage to 7-1, and also made Tovar just the second player in franchise history to double and triple in the same inning. Tovar joined Garrett Hampson in that feat, as Hampson did it on Aug. 11, 2020, in the eighth inning of a win over Arizona in Denver.
As the Colorado offense broke out — the Rockies’ previous high for runs in an inning in 2024 came on April 25 against San Diego when they scored six in the eighth in a comeback win — Cal Quantrill turned in his fifth quality start in his last six outings.
Quantrill said his recent surge has come from a mindset of “not being okay about how things have gone this year for us.”
“I want to win when I pitch, and I think that if it’s here (in Denver), I’m going to choose to look at it as an advantage because I know (other teams) don’t want to pitch here,” Quantrill said.
The right-hander pitched six innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. The lone blemish came in the fourth inning when Michael Conforto led off with an opposite-field homer down the left field line.
Besides that, Quantrill was effective, inducing eight ground-ball outs while also striking out five.
“I thought we kept them on their toes all day, and moved the ball around pretty well, had a good use of the fastball,” Quantrill said. “I threw good pitches when I had to. … Diaz and I got on the same page early and we stayed there.”
After Colorado’s explosive fourth, the Rockies added another run in the sixth via Blackmon’s RBI double. That gave Chuck Nazty his 761st career RBI, moving him past Nolan Arenado into sole possession of fourth place on the Rockies’ all-time list. Blackmon padded that tally with another RBI in the eighth off Littleton native Taylor Rogers — a single that scored Doyle and pushed the tally to 9-1.
Rookie left fielder Jordan Beck, who is struggling with a .156 average since debuting on April 30 in Miami, was the only Colorado player who didn’t have a hit on Thursday as Colorado racked up 14 overall.
“We know when we’re passing the bats, good things can happen, and today showed that,” Doyle said.
Black called Thursday the most complete game that the Rockies have played amid their 9-28 start. That record is tied with the White Sox for the worst mark in the majors, and the Rockies have still yet to win a series or back-to-back games this year.
“It was well-pitched, well-defended, and we swung the bats well,” Black said. “These are the type of games you want more often than not, obviously, where you get a bunch of runs and there’s very little drama.”
Friday’s pitching matchup
Rangers RHP Jon Gray (1-1, 2.50 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-2, 3.79)
6:40 p.m. Friday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
The Gray Wolf returns to Coors Field for the first time since signing a free agent deal with the Rangers ahead of the 2022 season. He made one start against Colorado in Texas last year, allowing one run over five innings while striking out six in an 11-5 Rangers win. Charlie Blackmon had a pair of hits in that game. This year, Gray’s been on a roll recently, allowing one run in eight innings against the Nationals on April 30 followed by seven innings of two-run ball against the Royals last Sunday.
Gomber was dominant in his last outing, blanking the Pirates for six innings in an eventual 1-0 loss last Saturday in Pittsburgh. His changeup and knuckle-curve have been particularly effective as of late, as reflected in Gomber being ranked in the 98th percentile of the league in offspeed run value, per Baseball Savant. The Rangers haven’t seen much of him, but Adolis Garcia has been effective in getting on base, with five walks in six at-bats.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Rangers LHP Andrew Heaney (0-4, 4.50) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.54), 6:10 p.m.
Sunday: Rangers TBA at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (0-6, 6.35), 1:10 p.m.
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