PHOENIX — Rockies hitters awoke from their early-season slumber, shook off the bad dreams of the season’s first two games, and finally cracked a few smiles Saturday night at Chase Field.
Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle launched two-run homers as the Rockies rolled the Diamondbacks 9-4. In doing so, the Rockies avoided their first 0-3 start since 1994.
Rockies pitchers walked nine batters — four of them leadoff passes, never advisable — but the D-Backs were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and Colorado turned four big double plays to snuff out would-be rallies.
Manager Bud Black cited several key aspects of the game, but none were bigger than right-hander Nick Mear’s repair work in the seventh inning. Lefty Jalen Beeks walked Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel to open the frame, putting Colorado’s 7-4 in peril. But the hard-throwing Mears struck out Christian Walker, got Gabriel Moreno to pop out to short and induced Eugenio Suarez to ground out to third.
“Any time you step on the mound, it’s a serious situation, but with a three-run lead, two men on and no outs, one swing of the bat can tie it,” Mears said. “It was just about making pitches and making them hit my stuff. I just went out there trying to put up a zero.”
Black added, “We saw Nick last year, in flashes, show the stuff to be a late-inning reliever. It’s about growth, maturity, and confidence for Nick on his career path, starting now. That’s been my message to him.”
Colorado’s offensive awakening came in the fifth. Trailing 3-2, the Rockies sent nine men to the plate and received big at-bats from Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Jones and Ryan McMahon.
Blackmon ripped a two-run double into the right-field corner off starter Tommy Henry. Jones hit a two-run triple to right after Kris Bryant drew a walk from erratic reliever Luis Frías. It was a terrific at-bat by Jones, who fell behind 0-2 but worked Frías for 11 pitches.
“Tonight, this was about us getting comfortable,” Jones said. “The first couple of days, there were, it’s opening day in somebody else’s ballpark. There were some rough innings. But I think we are starting to get more comfortable. There were huge at-bats up and down the lineup and I think we are going to continue that.”
McMahon, who went 2-for-4 and is hitting .600 (6-for-10) in the early going, scored Jones with a sacrifice fly to center.
Blackmon’s double put Colorado ahead for the first time in three games, ending a 22-inning drought without a lead to begin a season — the longest in franchise history. The previous mark was 21 innings in 1997.
Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber made an uneven, inefficient start: four runs allowed on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up solo homers to Suarez in the third and Gurriel in the fifth. Gomber walked three, struck out three, and threw 91 pitches, including 34 in the first inning.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty well, honestly,” Gomber said. “I had a little bit of a rough first inning, but I was able to manage that and I was able to get a little bit of a rhythm.”
Gomber began his season with a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte and it came back to haunt him. Corbin Carroll followed with an infield single, and Gurriel drove in Marte with a double to right-center. Moreno’s groundout to shortstop scored Carroll from third to put Arizona ahead, 2-0.
Gurriel is off to a sizzling start. He’s hitting .462 with three home runs and eight RBIs in his first three games. He’s the first D-backs player to hit a homer in the season’s first three games.
Colorado tied the game in the second on Tovar’s two-out, two-run homer to left, driving in Elias Diaz. Tovar launched Henry’s 0-1 fastball 402 feet.
First baseman Elehuris Montero walked a career-high three times and is showing signs of becoming the more disciplined hitter the Rockies hope he will become.
“This was a team win; a lot of guys contributed,” Black said. ” ‘Monty’ had a really good night, and Doyle, too. These are growth moments for these guys. Moments like that for Montero and Doyle? If that continues to happen? That’s what were talking about.”
One player who missed the party for Colorado was Bryant, the designated hitter on Saturday night. He struck out four times, just the eighth “Golden Sombrero” of his career and his first since 2019. He remains hitless after three games.
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