It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention. You can ask the Rockies about that.
With their starting rotation racked by injuries, the Rockies were forced to use a bullpen game Tuesday night at Coors Field. A sextet of relievers blanked the Astros for eight innings in Colorado’s 4-3 victory.
The six: Tommy Doyle, lefty Fernando Abad, Gavin Hollowell, Pierce Johnson, Daniel Bard and closer Justin Lawrence. Lawrence set the Astros down in order in the ninth for his sixth save.
Colorado is on a nice roll. It has won three of four games since the All-Star breaking, having taken two of three games from the Yankees over the weekend. And the Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak to the Astros, who had won eight of the last 10 games entering Tuesday night.
It was a milestone night for Abad, the 37-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who picked up the win. It was his first big-league victory since June 13, 2017, as a member of the Red Sox vs. Philadelphia, a span of 2,226 days between major league victories.
“That’s amazing … that’s a long time ago,” said Abad, who owns a barbershop in the Dominican, and cuts his teammates’ hair, both at Triple-A Albuquerque and with the Rockies.
Manager Bud Black praised Doyle for restoring order after the Astros scored three runs off “starter” Jake Bird in the first inning. And he was thrilled with how the relievers picked each other up, inning after inning.
“To put up eight zeroes after the first (inning) says something, collectively, about how those guys pitched tonight,” Black said.
Rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who’s proven worthy of all of the preseason hype, drove in the winning run with a two-out triple off the center-field wall in the fourth inning. Tovar drove in C.J. Cron, who reached first when Houston starter Hunter Brown plunked him to open the inning.
Tovar’s got a green light on a 3-0 count and he punished Brown’s 94.5 mph four-seam fastball.
“Brown’s got a good fastball but we felt good about Tovar putting a good swing on it — and he did,” Black said. “What you want on a 3-0 count is hard contact on a fastball and that’s what we got. Tovar did a good job and didn’t try to do too much with it.”
Tuesday marked Colorado’s third bullpen game of the season. The opening act did not go well for Bird, the workhouse right-hander.
Bird plunked Mauricio Dubon with the game’s first pitch and Alex Bregman doubled home Dubon on the fifth pitch. Bird fanned Kyle Tucker and Jose Abreu before giving up an RBI single to Chas McCormick and an RBI double to Yainer Diaz.
Colorado tied the game in its first at-bat, utilizing Jurickson Profar’s leadoff single, an opposite-field, two-run homer by Kris Bryant, and a 461-foot solo homer to center by Ryan McMahon. McMahon’s homer was his team-leading 15th.
Bryant’s homer was his eighth and his second in four games. He’s been tearing it up in the first inning. He’s now hitting .434 (23-for-53) with two doubles and three home runs in the first inning this season.
A pitch clock violation cost Colorado a prime scoring opportunity in the sixth against hard-throwing reliever Ryne Stanek. McMahon led off with an infield single and advanced to third on Cron’s fluke double to left. It should have been an easy out for McCormick but he lost the ball in the twilight sky.
Stanek got Elias Diaz to ground out sharply to short, and then Nolan Jones got rung up for strike three on the pitch clock violation. Stanek struck out Tovar to end the inning.
Both teams struggled to hit in the clutch. Houston finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. The Rockies were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Astros RHP Brandon Bielak (4-5, 3.79 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (8-7, 6.19)
1:10 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gomber has been the shining light in Colorado’s beat-up, struggling rotation. Last Friday, he allowed two runs on six hits and struck out two without walking a batter over six innings to earn a win over the Yankees at Coors Field. The lefty notched his third consecutive quality start and he’s won each of his last four starts — the first time in his career he’s won four consecutive starts. During that stretch, he’s posted a 3.00 ERA while striking out 12 and walking only two. Since being promoted from Triple-A Sugar Land on July 3, Bielak has posted a 1.50 ERA over two starts. He’ll be making his fourth career appearance (third start) against Colorado. On July 4 at Minute Maid Park, he held the Rockies scoreless over a career-high seven innings pitched. He allowed only two hits and fanned four. His first career win as a starter and his first quality start as a big leaguer came against Colorado on Aug. 17, 2020.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Rockies RHP Connor Seabold (1-7, 7.18) at Marlins LHP Braxton Garrett (5-2, 3.90), 4:40 p.m., ATTRM
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