Down to their final out, the Rockies used a clutch longball and then some small ball to win a series on Thursday in Anaheim.
Jake Cave belted a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game, then Sam Hilliard’s bunt forced a Los Angeles error in the 10th to score the winning run in a 5-4 comeback victory at Angel Stadium. It marked Colorado’s first series win in Anaheim since 2006.
Those two plays made sure Ryan Feltner’s quality start didn’t go to waste and also underscored a solid crunch-time performance by the Colorado bullpen. Combine those factors with a two-run homer by Michael Toglia early in the game, and the Rockies now head to San Diego on a high note to finish their road trip.
“All wins count the same, but some wins are better than others,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “This was a good one. Coming off our series (getting swept) in San Francisco, then coming here and winning two in a row, and two close games…. really good stuff. It’s going to be a good bus ride down (to San Diego) for everybody.”
Toglia jump-started the Rockies’ offense in the second inning, with a 388-foot, two-run blast to center off right-hander Carson Fulmer.
That continued the first baseman’s slugging surge this summer, putting him at 19 homers. Of that tally, 13 have come on the road, while Toglia has shown nearly equal power from the left side (10 dingers, including Thursday’s) and the right (nine).
After Feltner worked through the first three innings with no damage, the Angels tied the game in the fourth off the right-hander. Willie Calhoun led off with a single, then Logan O’Hoppe hit a nuke 454 feet to the rock pile in center field.
The two-run dingers by Toglia and O’Hoppe were the lone blemishes for each starter through the opening five innings, but the Angels got to Feltner again in the sixth to take the lead. This time, it was Mickey Moniak who took advantage of another elevated offspeed pitch, blasting Feltner’s belt-high changeup 412 feet to right-center.
“It was two mistakes on secondary pitches up in the zone, which were whacked, but besides that (Feltner) threw the ball well,” Black said. “He’s had seven good starts in a row, and he deserves better in a lot of ways. The (1-10) record doesn’t indicate it, so hopefully as we get into the next two months, some of those wins will come for Ryan.”
With a 3-2 lead, the Angels turned the game over to the bullpen.
Southpaw Jose Quijada set Colorado down in order in the seventh, then in the bottom of the inning, Taylor Ward’s RBI double off right-hander John Curtiss extended the home team lead to 4-2.
Colorado threatened in the eighth against flame-throwing right-hander Ben Joyce, who entered the game with a scoreless streak of 20 1/3 innings. After Hilliard led off with a single and Charlie Blackmon walked, Joyce got out of the jam by inducing a double-play grounder from Ezequiel Tovar and then K’d Brenton Doyle with a 103 mph heater to end the threat.
Angel Chivilli needed just eight pitches to retire the side in the eighth, as the rookie right-hander kept Colorado within striking distance.
Hunter Strickland was about to close the door on the Rockies in the ninth after issuing a leadoff walk to Ryan McMahon. Strickland struck out Brendan Rodgers and then got Toglia to fly out, but Cave rescued the Rockies with a two-run, 412-foot homer to center that tied the game.
“Once (Strickland) threw me that 3-0 pitch there, I was able to calibrate it a little bit,” Cave told Rockies TV. “I told myself if he threw a fastball center-cut again, to try to get my best swing on it, and I did.”
It was Cave’s first career homer in the ninth inning or later to tie or take the lead. And it added to Cave’s recent heroics over the past month, as the veteran outfielder recorded his first career walk-off via a single to beat the Brewers at Coors Field on July 1 and also had the deciding three-run homer late in the game in a win over the Giants at home on July 19.
“Sometimes you bear down a little bit, and sometimes you lock it just in a little bit more,” Cave said. “I did that a little bit tonight.”
Victor Vodnik worked around a walk in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras, where the Rockies quickly scored their California runner, pinch runner Aaron Schunk, thanks to Hilliard’s leadoff bunt that Hans Crouse threw away down the first base line.
“That was a good bunt by Sam, soft and back to the pitcher (to make him work for it), and Schunk did a good job of reading the (errant throw),” Black said.
Then Tyler Kinley polished off the comeback in the 10th, stranding the tying run at third to give Colorado its third series win in four tries to open the second half.
Friday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (2-7, 4.79) at Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-6, 4.82)
7:40 p.m. Friday, Petco Park
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’s last quality start was July 7, when he spun seven innings of one-run ball against the Royals. In his last outing, the southpaw was dinged for three runs in three-plus innings in a loss in San Francisco. Gomber posted a 5.27 ERA in five starts in an inconsistent July, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio was solid, with 22 K’s to just three free passes. For the Padres, Vasquez got shelled for six runs in two innings in his last outing. Prior to that, he had six shutout innings against the Nationals on July 23. The Rockies haven’t seen much of him, as no Colorado player has more than five at-bats against Vasquez.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Rockies TBA at Padres LHP Martín Perez (2-5, 5.20), 6:40 p.m.
Sunday: Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (7-7, 4.50) at Padres TBA, 2:10 p.m.
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