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 After the ceremony Sunday, the Rockies then swept a split
doubleheader, recording two come-from-behind wins over the
Cincinnati Reds.
"No. 17 must have worked his magic today," Rockies manager Walt
Weiss said. "Yeah, it was a good day."
The Rockies won the second game 10-5, scoring five runs with two
outs in the eighth inning, the first four on two-run doubles by
Corey Dickerson and Michael Cuddyer.
The double by Cuddyer enabled him to hit for the cycle, the seventh
time it was done in Rockies history and the first time since Carlos
Gonzalez accomplished the feat July 31, 2010, against the Chicago
Cubs at Coors Field. Cuddyer also hit for the cycle on May 22, 2009,
with the Minnesota Twins against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds were swept in a doubleheader for the first time since Aug.
28, 2007, at Pittsburgh.
Colorado won the first game 10-9 when Drew Stubbs capped a five-run
ninth with a three-run, walk-off homer. The blast came off J.J.
Hoover, who relieved Aroldis Chapman after the Cincinnati closer
walked all four batters he faced.
"The first one got away from us, and the second one got away from
us," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I know runs can score here in a
hurry. We really did everything we could with our bullpen to get to
the place where he had a chance to win that first game. And that's
the one we should put away and we didn't. ...
"We had a three-man bullpen for Game 2, and it didn't work out."
The Rockies came into the doubleheader with losses in 15 of their
previous 19 games since they last won two straight July 25-26. They
also were losers of 24 of their previous 38 games at Coors Field.
Against that backdrop, the stirring wins made for a great day for
the home team.
"Today was awesome," said Colorado reliever Adam Ottavino (1-4), who
retired the side in order for the eighth to earn the win in the
nightcap. "We were here for a long time anyway, might as well win
them. We made two great comebacks, one with Chapman starting the
ninth with a four-run lead. And tonight after being here for almost
12 hours, rallying again, it just feels good. Everybody feels happy
today."
The Rockies, who trailed the second game 5-2, rallied against Carlos
Contreras (0-1) and Manny Parra, scoring three runs in the seventh
and five in the eighth.
Colorado tied the game in the seventh, aided greatly by a Reds
throwing error. Dickerson singled home the first run in the inning,
and two more scored on third baseman Nolan Arenado's bases-loaded
grounder. Cincinnati third baseman Ramon Santiago, instead of trying
to go to second to start a double play, got the force out at third
but then threw the ball well wide of first baseman Brayan Pena.
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Cuddyer was activated from the 60-day disabled list Saturday before a
water-main break caused that day's game to be postponed. He missed 60
games with a fractured left shoulder socket, and he went 1-for-5 in
Sunday's opener.
In the second game, Cuddyer tripled in the first, led off the sixth with
his sixth homer and first since May 24, singled in the seventh and gave
the Rockies a 9-5 lead with his double in the eighth, when he was the
seventh Colorado batter of the inning.
"That last inning, we put a string of a lot of good at-bats to get me up
that last time, so it was a lot of fun," Cuddyer said. "It was just a
fun day in general, from Todd's number being retired to the two
come-from-behind wins. (It) was awesome."
The Rockies took three of four from the Reds (61-63), who fell 8 1/2
games behind in the National League Central and 4 1/2 games back in the
wild-card race. They begin a three-game series Monday at St. Louis after
a very deflating day.
"There's no excuse for hangover in this game," Price said. "We're all
professionals, and we're all expected to go out there and bust our tails
and do a great job. Today we didn't, and we're going to wear it. And we
should wear it. We screwed up two games. And we should wear it, all of
us."
NOTES: In the nightcap, RHP Dylan Axelrod gave up two runs in six
innings in his Reds debut. It was his first major league appearance
since Sept. 25, 2013, when he was with the Chicago White Sox. ... Reds
RHP Curtis Partch and Rockies 1B Ben Paulsen were added to the rosters
for the second game. Teams are permitted to carry a 26th player on the
active roster for the second game of a doubleheader. Paulsen started and
went 1-for-4. Colorado 1B Justin Morneau, who did not play in either
game, was still bothered by a sore neck. ... Colorado 2B DJ LeMahieu sat
out both games Sunday due to a sore left ankle. He turned the ankle
Friday night on a play at second base while breaking up a double play
with a slide. ... Reds 1B Todd Frazier didn't play in the doubleheader
due to lower back spasms that he felt on a swing Friday night.
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