Precious little had gone right for the Rockies early this season, but for a while, in a sun-splashed home opener at Coors Field, it looked like they would wash away some of those sins.
Then, the sins returned.
Until Ryan McMahon delivered sweet redemption with a titanic grand slam in the ninth off Jason Adam to lift the Rockies to a 10-7 victory. Closer Peter Fairbanks doomed the Rays by walking the bases full before giving way to Adam.
“I knew it was gone; that one felt good,” said McMahon, who hit the third walk-off home run of his career and his second career grand slam. “I turned to the dugout, started yelling, and I made sure I touched every base.”
It was the third walk-off grand slam in Rockies history and the first since Charlie Blackmon did it on Sept. 11, 2020, at Coors vs. the Angels. Ryan Spilborghs hit the first walk-off slam on Aug. 24, 2009, vs. the Giants at Coors. “Spilly’s” memorable blast came in the 14th inning.
According to OptaSTATS, the Rockies became the first team in major league history to blow a four-run lead in the top of the ninth but then hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
“What an emotional game,” manager Bud Black said. “We needed that one.”
They sure did. The Rockies opened the season going 1-6 on the road.
Colorado nearly blew the game in the ninth when the Rays scored five runs (four earned) off closer Justin Lawrence to take a 7-6 lead. Black said that Lawrence wasn’t commanding his sweeper. Lawrence concurred.
“I just left the ball over the plate too much, and their guys put the ball in play,” said Lawrence, who gave up a double and four singles before he was lifted for lefty Jalen Beeks.
Tampa scored the go-ahead run when Jose Siri reached on a throwing error by McMahon at third and Ben Rortvedt came in to score. Truth be told, McMahon made an excellent, spinning play on Siri’s hard grounder and threw a one-hopper to Kris Bryant at first base. Black argued that it was a very difficult play, but Bryant acknowledged that he should have made the catch.
“I’m always going to feel like I have to make a play. That’s just who I am,” Bryant said.
A sellout crowd of 48,399 soaked up the sunshine on a perfect day when the first-pitch temperature was 75 degrees, a record high on opening day in Denver, not counting the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.
It was a wild and crazy game.
It got even crazier after the game when Fairbanks took issue with the baseballs coming out of the humidor at Coors, saying, “They were not uniform from ball to ball.”
“They were horrible,” Fairbanks continued. “You can mark that down in all caps for me — horrible. No excuses, though. I didn’t throw strikes, and that’s what happens when you don’t throw strikes. You get punished for it.
“So I’d love to see those (baseballs) come out of the humidor tomorrow in a little better shape before they get rubbed up. But there’s nobody to blame but myself for not being able to adjust to some of the quality issues.”
Colorado’s bats were quiet until shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and Bryant each delivered two-run homers, turning LoDo into party central.
The 22-year-old Tovar, who signed a $63.5 million contract extension during spring training, delivered on his lofty expectations, mashing a two-run homer in the sixth inning to give Colorado a 4-2 lead.
Nolan Jones led off with a single to left, advanced to third on McMahon’s double, and scored on Elias Diaz’s sacrifice fly. Then Tovar stepped up and crushed lefty Colin Poche’s 2-1 slider 420 feet and into the left-field bleachers.
Bryant, Colorado’s highest-paid player — who entered the game hitting .103 — was roundly booed in his first three at-bats. But he launched a sky-high, 422-foot homer down the left-field line in the eighth off Jacob Waguespack to put the Rockies ahead, 6-2. The fans’ jeers quickly turned into cheers.
Rockies starter Austin Gomber was wildly inefficient but strangely effective. His outing was short because he threw 89 pitches (57 strikes) in just four innings. He walked three and gave up four hits but countered by racking up seven strikeouts.
Gomer needed 41 pitches to escape a rocky first inning, but he got three strikeouts to limit the damage to one run. As often happens, though, Gomber’s leadoff walk to Yandy Diaz haunted him. Diaz scored on Isaac Paredes’ single to make it 1-0.
The Rockies responded quickly in the bottom of the frame to tie the game on back-to-back one-out doubles from Brendan Rodgers and Nolan Jones.
The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the second, again profiting from Gomber’s free pass. Siri walked, stole second and scored on Yandy Diaz’s RBI single to right.
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Rays TBA at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (0-1, 5.40)
6:10 p.m. Saturday, 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
Feltner, who throws an electric fastball in the high 90s, is looking for more consistency. That consistency was missing in his first start of the season when he gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits over five innings. Feltner struck out four, walked two, and allowed one homer. The right-hander was 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA and 17 strikeouts in five Cactus League games this spring.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-1, 9.53) at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (0-1, 0.00), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (2-0, 0.82) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-2, 27.00), 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (1-0, 1.98) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (0-1, 9.00), 6:40 p.m.
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