Twenty runs, 30 hits, five homers, and two hours and 58 minutes of baseball — or was it pinball? — at Coors Field.
The last team standing was the Marlins, who scored a 12-8 win on Thursday afternoon to salvage a split in the four-game series between the two worst teams in the National League.
Colorado’s hit parade was long and loud but not enough to overcome bad pitching:
• Center fielder Brenton Doyle finished a triple short of the cycle, hitting a double in the second, a solo homer in the third (No. 22), and an RBI single in the sixth. He drew a two-out walk in his final at-bat in the ninth. Doyle has hit 15 of his 22 home runs since July 1.
• In the sixth, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar hit his 40th double, becoming the first Rockies player with 40 or more doubles since Charlie Blackmon hit 42 in 2019. Tovar is just the second Colorado shortstop to hit 40 doubles, joining Trevor Story, who hit 42 in 2018.
• Second baseman Brendan Rodgers hit solo homers in the third and fourth innings and added an infield single in the sixth. It was the second multi-homer game of Rodgers’ career. He’s hit 12 long balls this season.
“It was good to have yesterday off and get a little rest,” Rodgers said. “I put some good swings on the ball.”
Rodgers’ first multi-homer game was June 1, 2022, against the Marlins at Coors Field, a three-homer game that included a walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
• Rookie catcher Drew Romo hit a two-run double off the right-field fence in Colorado’s four-run fourth.
But the Marlins riddled rookie starter Bradley Blalock for seven runs (six earned) in four innings and long reliever Noah Davis for four runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings.
Derek Hill led Miami’s parade, going 3-for-6 with two homers and three RBIs as the Marlins recorded a season-high 18 hits.
“We had a plan coming in, but it didn’t fall our way,” Blalock said. “But props to their hitters. I just have to be better next time.”
Blalock had a 3.06 ERA heading into the slugfest. He departed with a 4.98 ERA. The Marlins drubbed him for nine hits, including two homers and two doubles. He struck out three and walked one.
“(Blalock) wasn’t quite sharp,” manager Bud Black said. “He’s learning through these first few handful of starts about the difference between facing major league hitters and minor league hitters and the importance of every pitch counting. Not throwing a good pitch and then a poor one.
“The consistency of quality pitches is something that he has to continue to focus on, and it will be his challenge as a major league starting pitcher.”
Hill hit a leadoff homer off him in the second, and the Marlins added a run in the third on Kyle Stowers’ RBI single. But an unsightly fourth was Blalock’s undoing. The Marlins sent nine men to the plate, pulled off a double steal, wrapped out four hits and scored a run on an error by Colorado third baseman Ryan McMahon, who saw Hill’s liner glance off his glove.
Miami reliever Jesus Tinoco pitched 2 1/3 innings and picked up his first career victory. Tinoco was part of the Rockies’ 2015 trade, sending star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto.
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Friday’s pitching matchup
Orioles TBA at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (4-9, 4.70 ERA)
6:40 p.m. Friday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gomber has faced every team in the majors except the Orioles, Blue Jays and White Sox. He’ll trim that list to two on Friday night when he faces the O’s. The lefty has made a quality start in three of his last five games, posting a 4.34 ERA. But he’s coming off a rough outing on Sunday in New York, where the Mets scored five runs against him in just three innings — tied for Gomber’s shortest start of the season.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Orioles TBA at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-10, 4.95), 6:10 p.m.
Sunday: Orioles TBA at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (8-9, 4.63), 1:10 p.m.
Originally Published: August 29, 2024 at 4:18 p.m.
