Rockies beat Marlins in series opener behind two Ryans, strong bullpen

In a battle between National League cellar-dwellers, two Ryans got the job done for the Rockies.

Colorado beat fellow 1993 expansion franchise Miami, 3-2, in the series opener on Monday at Coors Field, using a strong start by right-hander Ryan Feltner in conjunction with Ryan McMahon’s game-winning homer and a clutch bullpen performance.

“It was one of those total team efforts,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It was a big swing by Mac to give us the lead, and I thought Feltner threw the ball fine in his return (from the injured list).

“He looked good and he turned the ball loose. I was encouraged by his arm speed, his aggressiveness with the fastball as the game went on. He looked healthy, so this is a good sign for him hopefully finishing the season strong.”

The game breezed through the first five innings, with no runs for either team and the Rockies not registering their first hit off right-hander Edward Cabrera until Jake Cave’s leadoff single in the fourth.

But in the fifth, both offenses finally woke up.

The Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the top of the frame. Miami loaded the bases with two singles and a walk, then Jesús Sánchez flared a single to left that scored two runs. The next batter, Feltner induced a double play to get out of the jam.

Colorado responded in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs to even the game. After Sam Hilliard singled and then Jordan Beck’s single pushed Hilliard to third, Hilliard scored on Aaron Schunk’s groundout. Then Cave came through with a two-out single to plate Beck.

Black went to the bullpen for the sixth considering Feltner had just been activated off the injured list from a right shoulder strain that had him sidelined since Aug. 8.

“That was a hard fifth inning,” Black said. “Going into that, his pitch count was great, then he threw close to 30 pitches that inning. That was a good spot to get him out… There’s a number of starts left, so I wanted to make sure his confidence is there with his shoulder.”

Feltner hasn’t earned a win in 21 straight starts since April 17, the longest single-season winless streak by a starting pitcher (non-opener) since Shelby Miller with the Braves in 2015. No doubt also factoring into Black’s decision to pull Feltner was how well teams are faring against the right-hander the third time through the lineup, slashing .317/.362/.533 entering Monday.

“I felt really good, just to be able to let the fastball go a little bit and trust my defense,” Feltner said. “The fastball felt unexpectedly good today (topping out at 97.1 mph), so we decided to throw more of them.”

After Feltner’s exit, the ’pen held up under pressure.

Jake Bird, recalled ahead of the game from Triple-A, pitched a scoreless sixth after working around a leadoff walk. Justin Lawrence took care of the seventh, and Angel Chivilli threw up a zero in the eighth.

It was after Bird’s solid inning that McMahon provided the evening’s decisive swing. The all-star third baseman launched a leadoff homer in the sixth off Cabrera — a 438-foot moonshot to center on an elevated, 96-mph 3-2 changeup.

It was McMahon’s 17th homer this year, but his first since July 30, snapping a 20-game homerless streak. The bomb was also McMahon’s ninth go-ahead homer of the season and 44th of his career. One more, and he ties Trevor Story for the 10th-most go-ahead homers in club history.

“I think it was a changeup (at 95 mph), but I have no idea,” McMahon said. “(Cabrera) was throwing 92- to 97-mph changeups tonight, and it was different than his fastball. But I put a good swing on it and it felt good to help the team out.”