While the Rockies wouldn’t be able to claim a series win over the Astros, they also wouldn’t have to claim a series loss as a ninth inning comeback would let Colorado split a two game road series in Houston.
The first game of the series would see the Rockies claim the first lead, the Astros take control, and then a ninth inning rally for a surprise victory. The first score of the game wouldn’t come until the fourth inning when Troy Tulowitzki, making his first start since May 26th and Carlos Gonzalez hit back to back solo home runs for a 2-0 lead. The fifth inning would be a disaster as both second baseman Daniel Descalso and starting pitcher David Hale were forced to leave the game due to injury on consecutive plays. A very unprepared Boone Logan was forced to take over, and that allowed the Astros to rally. Jon Singleton started it with a single and came home to score on a triple by Luis Valbuena. Valbuena would score on a single by Jake Marisnick. Jose Altuve would get on base with a single and George Springer would wipe them clean with a three run home run off of the train itself in center to take a 5-2 lead. Back to back doubles by Corey Dickerson and Michael McKenry would score one run in the sixth inning, while the Astros would add a run in the seventh off of a Jonathan Villar double and an RBI single by Altuve to go up 6-3. Then the ninth inning would happen. McKenry would lead off with a double, coming home to score on a single by Charlie Blackmon, who would advance to second on the throw home from the outfield. Justin Morneau would single to center and Blackmon would come around to score. Cristhian Adames would smack a double to leave runners at second and third, where the Astros would intentionally walk Nolan Arenado to load the bases with no outs. D.J. LeMahieu would hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Morneau from third. Tulowitzki would hit a single to drive in Adames to give the Rockies a 7-6 lead, followed by both Tulowitzki and Arenado stealing on a successful double steal. That would lead to Gonzalez being intentionally walked to again load the bases, but despite only having one out, the Rockies would be unable to add to their score as Dickerson would fly out and McKenry would ground out to second. It wouldn’t matter however as Rafael Betancourt would shut the door in the bottom of the ninth as the Rockies held on a for a surprising 7-6 victory.
Player of the game was Troy Tulowitzki, who was making his first start since May 26th. Tulowitzki went 3-5 with two singles and a solo home run, scoring one run and driving in two RBI in his return to action. Top hitter for the Astros was Luis Valbuena, going 3-4 with two singles and a triple, scoring one run and one RBI. Another top hitter was George Springer, though only going 1-4, that one hit came on a three run home run, scoring one run and driving in three RBI to cap a five run fifth inning. Winning pitcher was Rex Brothers to improve to 1-1, going 3.0 innings pitched, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, no walks and 2 strikeouts for a 3.73 ERA. Rafael Betancourt earned his first save with a hitless ninth inning. Starting pitcher David Hale went 4.0 innings pitched, giving up 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, no walks and 2 strikeouts for a 4.52 ERA before leaving in the fifth due to injury. Losing pitcher was Luke Gregerson to drop to 1-3, going 0.1 innings pitched, giving up 4 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk and no strikeouts for a 6.16 ERA in the ninth inning meltdown. Jose Veras picked up his seventh hold. Starting pitcher Brett Oberholtzer went 7.0 innings pitched, giving up 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, no walks and 4 strikeouts for a 5.79 ERA.
The second game would see the Rockies again take an early lead, only to end up blowing it the next inning and never quite recover. The Rockies would score first in the third inning as a ground rule double by Nolan Arenado would be followed by an RBI single by Troy Tulowitzki for a 1-0 lead. The Astros would answer in the bottom of the fourth as Colby Rasmus opened with a single, coming home to score on an RBI double by Jon Singleton, who would advance to third on the throw home from the outfield. Singleton would then cross the plate on a ground out by Luis Valbuena to put the Astros up 2-1. In the fifth inning, Arenado would reach base on a fielder’s choice and eventually come home to score on a single by Tulowitzki, but the tie would be broken in the bottom of the fifth as George Springer would get on base via a hit by pitch, eventually coming around to score on a fielder’s choice by Singleton to give the Astros a 3-2 lead. Houston would add to their lead in the sixth inning as Springer would blast a two run home run to center for a 5-2 advantage. The Rockies would cut the lead to one in the seventh inning as Arenado launched a one out triple and would score on a ground out by D.J. LeMahieu, followed by a solo home run by Tulowitzki to close within 5-4. The Rockies had a chance to tie it or take the lead as they would manage to load the bases after Tulo’s home run, but would be unable to drive another run home. The same would happen in the eighth after a one out triple by Cristhian Adames as back to back strikeouts would end the threat and go on to seal the loss.
Player of the game was George Springer, going 1-3 with a two run home run, scoring one run and driving in two RBI. Top hitter for the Rockies was Troy Tulowitzki, going 3-5 with two singles and a solo home run, scoring one run and driving in three RBI. Winning pitcher was Collin McHugh to improve to 5-5, going 6.2 innings pitched, giving up 10 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, no walks and 6 strikeouts for a 3.98 ERA. Chad Qualls (4th) and Pat Neshek (14th) both got credit for holds, while Luke Gregerson picked up his eighteenth save. Losing pitcher was Eddie Butler to drop to 2-7, going 5.0 innings pitched, giving up 9 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts for a 7.88 ERA.
Colorado – 7-13-0
Houston – 6-12-0
Colorado – 4-12-0
Houston – 5-11-2
And so the Rockies would hang on just one game above the .500 mark as they returned home for 8 games over the next 9 days with series again the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
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