Even with a one-run lead, White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman never looked comfortable.
As the Rockies landed one base runner in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday, and then another and another, Graveman kept stepping off the mound to gather himself and recalibrate.
After walking the bases loaded, it was obvious what was coming. Rockies catcher Elias Diaz batted a single through the right side of the infield, scoring two as the Rockies walked off with a thrilling 6-5 win over the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon.
“In that situation, the pitcher has to come to the zone,” Diaz said. “… I went to the plate and said, ‘If I see something up in the zone, I’m gonna swing.’”
In 17 pitches, Graveman had mustered only five strikes. Nothing about his save opportunity went smoothly. As Diaz’s single sputtered through the infield to plate the game-winning runs, the Rockies spilled out of the dugout in celebration.
In a jubilant clubhouse after the game, Diaz said he’d watched the hit a hundred times.
“He was aggressive and early in the count,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “The intent was to go the other way and not get too big. And he kept his swing short.”
The win salvaged the two-game series against the White Sox and improved Colorado’s record to 45-54 on the season as the first-place Dodgers come to town on Thursday.
The result looked ominous after starter Antonio Senzatela exited the game in the seventh after taking a grounder to the leg. When Black decided to pull him with runners on and two outs in the seventh inning, Colorado held a tenuous 3-2 lead. That margin didn’t hold through the end of the inning.
Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson knocked a single to left-center to drive in the first run of the seventh, then left fielder AJ Pollock singled to score two more. A vocal contingent of Wednesday’s roughly 30,000 fans bellowed in support of the White Sox. Chicago fans crowed an inning later after the Sox bullpen wiggled out of a jam.
What was once an early, 3-0 Rockies lead, melted into a 5-3 deficit. Most of the damage had been done after Senzatela exited and with reliever Lucas Gilbreath on the mound. Senzatela left after eight hits and five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
The Rockies bolted out to a 3-0 lead after one, yet the scoring valve shut off after that. Charlie Blackmon parked a leadoff homer to right, and timely hits from C.J. Cron and Jose Iglesias drove in the next two runs.
And for more than five innings, nothing. There were some scattered hits and several squandered opportunities yet nothing of substance materialized. With the bases loaded in the sixth, Kris Bryant’s deep fly ball to center field provided a fleeting hope for fireworks. It turned into nothing more than a loud out. The Rockies plated one in the seventh off another Iglesias RBI.
In the top of the fifth, the Rockies caught a massive break to help preserve the lead. With two outs, the White Sox were threatening with runners on second and third. As third baseman Yoan Moncada worked a five-pitch walk that would’ve loaded the bases, Diaz snapped a throw to third and caught Leury Garcia sleeping. The pick-off was pivotal. Senzatela was laboring, and the Rockies escaped unscathed with their 3-2 lead intact.
