|
 Rockies closer John Axford, who blew his first save of the season
and suffered the loss on Wednesday when the Diamondbacks rallied for
three runs in the ninth inning, relieved Boone Logan in the ninth in
the series finale and came away with his 13th save.
The Rockies, who improved to 17-22 at Coors Field, have won
consecutive series at home for the first time this season.
"I think it's important," said Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki,
who led off the eighth with his first career pinch-homer.
"Obviously, we're not in that do-or-die stage yet, but when you're
playing division games, it is important to win series, especially at
home, because we haven't been the best."
The Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead into the eighth, but Tulowitzki
tied the score with his homer against Daniel Hudson (2-3).
Tulowitzki had been 0-for-5 as a pinch hitter this season and
hitless in his past eight pinch-hit at-bats dating to last season.
"Just trying to put together a good at-bat, especially leading off
inning," Tulowitzki said. "Hudson's firm. Obviously, he throws upper
90s. He got behind 1-0 and threw a fastball and I put a good swing
on it."
Hudson had just relieved starter Rubby De La Rosa, who lasted the
longest in the first De La Rosa-De La Rosa matchup in major league
history. Jorge De La Rosa started for the Rockies but left in the
sixth with a cut on his middle finger.
"Typically he's been able to get over it and not miss a start,"
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "That cut opened up pretty good. We
felt if we let him go any longer, he was really going to tear that
thing and you're maybe looking at a possible (disabled list)
situation. But it's something that's been fairly chronic, so there's
concern there."
Jorge De La Rosa said, "I think they made a good decision to take me
out. It was bothering me all game."
After Tulowitzki hit his eighth homer of the season, center fielder
Charlie Blackmon walked and stole second before second baseman
Rafael Ynoa sacrificed him to third. Left fielder Ben Paulsen
brought Ynoa home with a groundout after ending the top of the
eighth by reaching over the fence to rob Arizona second baseman
Chris Owings of a home run.
"I knew it was in my glove, but I didn't know it was going over the
wall," Paulsen said. "It was a cool feeling. That's probably the
best play I ever made, definitely in the outfield."
The five-run, eight-innning rally included a run-scoring single by
first baseman Wilin Rosario, who had three hits. He drove in third
baseman Nolan Arenado, who hit his 20th homer of the season in the
sixth and took third on Paulsen's RBI grounder when no one was
covering the base.
The final two runs of the inning scored on third baseman Aaron
Hill's error.
Axford, who relieved Logan with no outs and runners on first and
third, got pinch-hitter Danny Dorn to hit into a run-scoring
groundout in the ninth. Center fielder A.J. Pollock grounded a
single to right and stole second, putting runners on second and
third for first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a sacrifice fly,
before Axford struck out right fielder Yasmany Tomas to end the
game.
[to top of second column] |
Axford threw 32 pitches Wednesday night to get two outs. He insisted
to Weiss that he could pitch if needed Thursday and wound up
throwing another 25.
On Wednesday, Axford issued a game-tying, 10-pitch walk to Jarrold
Saltalamacchia followed by a sacrifice fly that gave the
Diamondbacks their 8-7 victory.
Axford had another 10-pitch at-bat Thursday, this time to
Goldschmidt, who fouled off four straight 3-2 pitches as Axford
threw fastballs and sliders before one final curveball.
"Some memories of last night," Axford said. "I kept trying to work
in and out, fastball, slider. Just try and make him put the ball in
play or swing through one at one point. That guy's incredible. He's
the MVP of the league right now.
"He's a great, great player, so once again, I didn't want to make
mistakes. So tried to work both sides and eventually I had to throw
something different. So it was a curveball at the end."
The winning pitcher was Justin Miller (1-0), who pitched the eighth
and retired the side in order.
The Diamondbacks took a 2-1 lead in the seventh on back-to-back
doubles by shortstop Nick Ahmed and Pollock with two outs but failed
in an attempt to get back to .500 for the first time since April 24.
"Tulowitzki came off the bench and hits a homer," Diamondbacks
manager Chip Hale said. "It's just very typical playing in this
ballpark. The game is never over. One-run games are tough to hold.
"The one thing that was disappointing today was not being able to
stop the damage once it started."
NOTES: Diamondbacks RHP Archie Bradley (right shoulder tendinitis)
didn't feel right after making his first rehab start Wednesday at
Tacoma for Triple-A Reno and returned to Phoenix on Thursday to be
evaluated. ... Diamondbacks SS Ahmed made his 74th career start and
led off for the first time in the majors. He batted first in 86
career minor league games. ... Rockies RF Carlos Gonzalez, who
suffered a mild sprain of his left hand Sunday, was not in the
lineup for the third straight game but came in as a defensive
replacement, just as he did Wednesday. ... Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu
was not in the lineup for the first time since May 24. He had
started 29 consecutive games. Rafael Ynoa made his 13th start of the
season and second at second base. The other was May 17 at Los
Angeles.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
