PHOENIX — Rockies hitters awoke from their early-season slumber, shook off the bad dreams of the season’s first two games, and finally cracked a few smiles Saturday night at Chase Field.
Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle launched two-run homers as the Rockies rolled the Diamondbacks 9-4. In doing so, the Rockies avoided their first 0-3 start since 1994.
Rockies pitchers walked nine batters — four of them leadoff passes, never advisable — but the D-Backs were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and Colorado turned four big double plays to snuff out would-be rallies.
Colorado’s big awakening came in the fifth. Trailing 3-2, the Rockies sent nine men to the plate and received big at-bats from Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Jones and Ryan McMahon.
Blackmon ripped a two-run double into the right-field corner off starter Tommy Henry. Jones hit a two-run triple to right after Kris Bryant drew a walk from erratic reliever Luis Frías. It was a terrific at-bat by Jones, who fell behind 0-2 but worked Frías for 11 pitches.
McMahon, who went 2-for-4 and is hitting .600 in the early going, scored Jones with a sacrifice fly to center.
Blackmon’s double put Colorado ahead for the first time, ending a 22-inning drought without a lead to begin a season — the longest in franchise history. The previous mark was 21 innings in 1997.
Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber made an uneven, inefficient start: four runs allowed on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up solo homers to Eugenio Suarez in the third and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the fifth. Gomber walked three, struck out three, and threw 91 pitches, including 34 in the first inning.
Gomber began his season with a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte and it came back to haunt him. Corbin Carroll followed with an infield single, and Gurriel drove in Marte with a double to right-center. Gabriel Moreno’s groundout to shortstop scored Carroll from third to put Arizona ahead, 2-0.
Gurriel is off to a sizzling start. He’s hitting .462 with three home runs and eight RBIs in his first three games. He’s the first D-backs player to hit a homer in the season’s first three games.
Colorado tied the game in the second on shortstop Tovar’s two-out, two-run homer to left, driving in Elias Diaz. Tovar drove Henry’s 0-1 fastball 402 feet.
First baseman Elehuris Montero walked a career-high three times and is showing signs of becoming the more disciplined hitter the Rockies hope he will become.
One player who missed the party for Colorado was designated hitter Kris Bryant. Bryant struck out four times, just the eighth “Golden Sombrero” of his career and his first since 2019. He remains hitless after three games.
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