The Guardians got the key hits and made the key plays when they had to. The Rockies did not.
And so the Guardians beat the power-starved Rockies, 4-3, in 10 innings Tuesday night at Coors Field, denying the Rockies their first three-game winning streak since April 29-May 1.
It was a familiar script for the Rockies, who played their sixth extra-inning game in June and fell to 1-5 in those games. Four of the Rockies’ last five losses have been by one run.
Jose Ramirez, the majors’ RBI leader with 62, put Cleveland ahead 4-3 in the 10th. He drove in ghost runner Amed Rosario with a blistering double to right field that took a wicked hop and nearly hit first baseman C.J. Cron in the head.
“I thought I had a good read on it and at the last second it jumped up on me pretty good and it just missed my face,” Cron said, adding that the ball nicked his ear. “I’ll have to watch it back and see what happened but it’s a play I would like to make, for sure.”
The Rockies had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the frame, but ghost runner Charlie Blackmon got caught between home and first on Brendan Rodgers’ nubber in front of the plate and was thrown out in a rundown. The game ended when Emmanuel Clase induced Cron to ground into a double play.
“If Charlie had to do it over again he probably would have held his ground,” manager Bud Black said.
Closer Daniel Bard pitched a gutsy ninth inning to give the Rockies a chance. Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez led off with a single off of shortstop Jose Igelesias’ glove and Steven Kawn ripped a ball off Cron’s glove for what was officially ruled a single.
With two on and no outs, Bard bore down. Austin Hedges couldn’t handle the heat of Bard’s fastball and fouled out to catcher Bryan Serven while trying to execute a sacrifice bunt. Bard then struck out Myles Straw looking at a 100 mph fastball and got Amed Rosario to ground out softly back to the mound.
Cleveland starter and strikeout artist Shane Bieber was controlling the Rockies until Blackmon sat on Bieber’s 1-1 curveball with two outs in the seventh. Blackmon blasted it deep into the Rockies’ bullpen for a two-run homer to tie the game, 3-3.
Blackmon’s 10th homer of the season was the 201st of his career, tying him with Dante Bichette for the sixth-most in franchise history.
Still, the Rockies are coming up short when it comes to home runs. Blackmon’s homer snapped the team’s streak of 266 plate appearances without a home run, the third-longest streak in franchise history. Colorado has hit just 54 home runs, tied with Pittsburgh for 22nd in the majors, despite playing at Coors Field.
“Charlie’s was a big homer, it tied the game,” Black said. “But overall, our power’s lacking. When you look at our roster and you look at the names and what they are capable of on the power side. But right now, we are not producing the power that we anticipated. But there is still a lot of baseball left for that to happen. Whether the guys reach their expected home run totals, we’ll see.”
Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela pitched a solid, workmanlike game, but the Guardians cobbled together some seeing-eye hits and used their speed on the bases. Senzatela pitched six innings, allowed eight hits, and gave up three runs (two earned). It was the Rockies’ ninth quality start in their last 11 games.
“I felt like I pitched well with my fastball and kept the ball down low,” Senzatela said.
Added Black: “His stuff was crisp and as the game went on I thought he used the changeup much more. The fastball was effective and the slider was fine. They got some base hits, some soft hits, but overall I thought he pitched very well.”
Kwan led off the third with an infield single, advanced to third on Rosario’s double, and scored on Ramirez’s two-run single.
Cleveland extended its lead to 3-1 in the sixth. Ramirez drew a leadoff walk off Senzatela, swiped second and took third on catcher Brian Serven’s throwing error. Second baseman Brendan Rodgers, however, should have at least knocked the ball down. Ramirez subsequently scored on Josh Naylor’s single.
Colorado has committed at least one error in 11 consecutive home games, its longest streak in franchise history, and its 51 errors are the most in the majors.
Bieber, making his first trip to Coors Field, as well as his first start against the Rockies, came into Tuesday’s game on quite a roll. Over his previous starts, the right-hander was 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA, 39 strikeouts and only one walk.
And while the Rockies never threw a knockout punch — at least not until Blackmon’s homer — they jabbed Bieber pretty well. Over 6 2/3 innings, Bieber gave up three runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out seven.
The Rockies had a chance to get to Bieber early but left men stranded in scoring position. Sam Hilliard — who’s struggling mightily at the plate but got the start in left field — came up twice with a chance to drive in a run. Bieber struck him out twice.
In the second, with Jose Iglesias on second and Brian Serven on first, Hilliard struck out looking to end the inning.
Iglesias and Randal Grichuk opened the fourth with singles off Bieber, but Serven grounded into a double play and Bieber struck on Hilliard swinging at a 3-2 curveball to end another inning.
Hilliard, who’s hitting .161 overall, is 0-for-20 with 10 strikeouts in June.