Tovar’s walk-off single caps big day for heart of Rox’s lineup

DENVER — With a few huge bats on the bench and one on the injured record, the Rockies maintained their May momentum with a giant day for the center of the makeshift lineup, finally rallying twice to say the lead within the eighth and reclaim it within the ninth for a 7-6 walk-off victory that clinched the four-game set with Miami on Thursday at Coors Field.

Elias Díaz took a time without work from catching however stayed within the lineup because the designated hitter within the No. 3 spot, and he hit his third residence run of the collection to tie the sport within the sixth earlier than working a stroll to assist gas the game-winning rally within the ninth.

Randal Grichuk hit cleanup within the absence of C.J. Cron (on the IL with again spasms), and he went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs, scoring to place the Rockies on the board within the fourth and once more to take the lead within the eighth.

And Ryan McMahon upped his recreation by going 2-for-3 from the No. 5 spot, with a pair of walks and a go-ahead RBI double within the eighth inning. He’d entered the sport 0-for-10 within the collection and was hitting .212 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs on the season.

“It just feels good to contribute, man,” McMahon mentioned of his clutch hit. “It’s no secret I haven’t been playing the best baseball, so any time you do something to help the team, you feel better about yourself, feel like you’re a part of the team. Usually, good things happen after that.”

Also contributing on the tail finish of the center of the order was rookie Ezequiel Tovar, who went 2-for-4 with a stroll and the walk-off hit within the ninth — a ground-ball single to left by a five-man infield.

“I’m a proponent of the five-man infield [in that situation],” Rockies supervisor Bud Black mentioned. “We’ve done it in the past. It’s a good baseball play. We just snuck it through today.”

The center of the lineup was aided by a few huge pinch-hits within the eighth, with a single from Charlie Blackmon and a two-run single from Mike Moustakas. Blackmon’s single off Dylan Floro was his first hit in 14 at-bats in opposition to the reliever. Brenton Doyle capped the rally with an infield single that scored Michael Toglia earlier than Moustakas was thrown out going to 3rd on the play.

Doyle made a highlight-reel effort in middle within the ninth, leaping on the warning monitor and catching a deep drive from Jorge Soler in his glove above the wall earlier than he misplaced it into the stands for a house run when he crashed into the wall. Doyle left the sport after an agonizing harm to his proper knee, later recognized as a contusion with no obvious ligament harm. Doyle made an identical play on the wall with Triple-A Albuquerque earlier within the season and missed 10 days to a bruised proper knee.

The inning fell aside for the Rockies after the Soler homer, with the Marlins making up a four-run deficit and handing nearer Pierce Johnson his first blown save in 11 alternatives when Garrett Cooper slugged a game-tying two-run homer.

With one out and two on within the backside of the ninth, Marlins reliever Huascar Brazoban walked McMahon to load the bases, his third free cross of the inning. Garrett Hampson got here in from proper to make the five-man infield, and Tovar threaded his grounder by the tiniest of holes within the infield for the primary walk-off hit of his profession.

The victory got here largely on account of 5 sturdy innings from starter Kyle Freeland, who gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks whereas placing out 4. He grinded from the primary inning on, difficult a lineup that ran his pitch rely as much as 91 and compelled an early exit.

It was an excellent followup to his final begin, one of many least efficient outings of his profession, when he yielded eight runs (5 earned) in two innings.

“You always want to bounce back as best you can after a bad outing,” Freeland mentioned. “Over those five days in between outings, you’re itching to get back, just because you want the ball. You want to prove yourself and everyone wrong, show that you can rebound well and get your team a win. So it was nice to be able to get out there and get the team a win and pitch well.”