Led by jubilant rookie Elehuris Montero, the Rockies busted out of their drought in a big way on a perfect summer night at Coors Field.
The Rockies’ entered Friday night’s game in a five-game losing skid and had failed to hit a home run in any of those losses. But Montero rocketed two over the center-field wall, Connor Joe broke out of a deep slump with a solo homer, and the Rockies beat the Giants, 7-4.
“Honestly, it just feels amazing, it feels great,” Montero said. “There’s no words to describe that feeling. I’m speechless.”
And on a day when the Rockies found out that they lost starter Antonio Senzatela for the season with a knee injury, right-hander Jose Urena provided them with a solid performance. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.
“We talked about it pregame and I said he needed to get the ball down, which he did,” manager Bud Black said. “He produced grounders, he had a fastball with some sink, a slider and a change. So that was Jose Urena, what you saw tonight, so that was good.”
In fact, Urena induced 11 groundball outs.
Montero’s first-ever homer at Coors Field was a 429-foot, two-run shot in the second inning off San Francisco left-hander Alex Wood. His second was a three-run blast off Wood in the fifth to hike Colorado’s lead to 7-0.
“He’s a big powerful guy to start with,” Black said of the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Montero. “It’s a pretty short, compact swing and hitting coaches like it because of the shortness to it. He can get to the ball. … But the raw power really hasn’t been fully displayed yet.”
Told about what Black had said, the 24-year-old Montero said: “I feel like there’s more in there. I just need to continue to work hard. You guys will see the real Montero.”
Montero’s second bash spelled the end for Wood, who was torched for seven hits, including Joe’s blast in the fourth and back-to-back doubles by Wynton Bernard and Jose Iglesias in the fifth.
Joe, who began the season as Colorado’s leadoff hitter and on-base specialist, has been in a terrible slump. He entered Friday’s game hitting .085 (4-for-47) since the All-Star break and hitting .139 (14-for-101) over his last 30 games since July 1.
Joe’s homer was his first since June 7, at San Francisco, a drought of 169 at-bats. He also hit a single up the middle in the eighth.
“A lot better swings,” Black said. “Tonight, more bat speed. It’s been a long season for Connor. It’s really been the first full go for Connor from spring training to mid-August.”
Urena had been scuffling — big time. Over this last five starts, he was 0-3 — the Rockies 0-5 — with a 7.77 ERA. Last Sunday, he served up three home runs to the Diamondbacks. But he held the Giants scoreless through five innings before Joc Pederson sliced a two-out solo homer into the left-field corner in the sixth.
He wobbled in the seventh, walking Mike Yastrzemski and giving up a two-out single to Brendan Crawford. Enter lefty Lucas Gilbreath, who has not pitched well since the All-Star break. He walked pinch hitter J.D. Davis to load the bases and then plunked Joey Bart to force in a run. Pinch hitter Austin Slater compounded Gilbreath’s sins by hitting a two-run single, cutting Colorado’s lead to 7-4.
Closer Daniel Bard, who had not pitched since Aug. 11, walked Brendan Crawford to open the ninth but struck out Davis, Bart and Slater to notch his 25th save in 27 chances. Bard has a 2.11 ERA.
