Clips for 7-12-10

MEDIA CLIPS – May 9, 2018 Gray keeps rotation rolling; Rox win 6th straight Right-hander’s scoreless outing is Colorado’s 9th consecutive quality start Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 8, 2018 DENVER -- Righty Jon Gray helped the Rockies' rotation make some history Tuesday night. Gray fanned eight over seven scoreless innings to deliver the starters' club-record ninth straight quality start. He led the Rockies to their sixth consecutive victory, a 4-2 win over the Angels at Coors Field in the opener of a two-game set and six-game homestand. During the club-record streak, Rockies starters have posted a 1.92 ERA in 61 innings, with 57 strikeouts against 10 walks. The nine straight quality starts break the previous record of eight, accomplished twice -- July 8-Aug. 6, 2006, and June 4- 11, 2009. "Aggressiveness -- we're not walking guys, we're going at them," Gray said. "That has a lot to do with it. We set the tone ourselves. If you do that, you can control the game. That's what I see a lot of our guys doing." Gray (4-4), who held the Angels to four hits, began his solid run before the club's streak. He has held opponents to one run in 20 innings -- with 25 strikeouts and three walks -- in his last three outings as he demonstrates why manager Bud Black has made him the team's No. 1 starter the last two years. Most importantly, Gray's effort helped the Rockies (21-15) improve to a game below .500 at Coors, at 6-7. "That's what this game is all about, pitching," said shortstop Trevor Story, who tripled and scored in the sixth off Angels starter Andrew Heaney (1-2), and doubled in two runs with two out in the seventh off Noe Ramirez. "When they compete like that, we're a very confident team." 1 After two groundouts in the first, Justin Upton and Albert Pujols singled, and Andrelton Simmons took a close pitch for a walk to load the bases. But with the count full to Zack Cozart, Gray delivered a 90.3 mph slider -- the pitch that was awful at the start of the year but has improved with his last three starts -- for a strikeout. "That's the part of the game where you've just got to lock it down right there, make your best pitches then," Gray said. "Things could get out of hand, and [if] you give up a few runs early, it doesn't set well with the rest of the team. "I knew I had good stuff. I was going to be fine if I just executed." Gray also had to change his plan. He expected a veteran Angels lineup with Mike Trout, Upton and Pujols holding the 2-4 spots to attack aggressively, but they began the game sitting on the slider. Gray worked his fastball and his changeup – a pitch he had not used often against righty hitters -- inside against them, and opened up the outer part of the plate for the slider. "He pitched -- he gained confidence as the game went on," Black said. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, "He had a lot working for him out there. We couldn't get the kind of looks we thought we would to kind of pressure him, and he pitched a good ballgame for them." Gray didn't face trouble until the seventh. Simmons led off with a single and was at second with one out when Scioscia called upon Japanese rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani, who put on a pregame batting-practice display with two balls that nearly reached restaurants at the top of the park. Thomas Harding @harding_at_mlb #Angels Shohei Ohtani is putting in a batting practice show at Coors Field. One of his drives nearly made it to the Jack Daniels Bar above the third deck in right. Another reached The Rooftop. Here are your visuals. 2 "I'm glad I didn't see that," said Gray, who was in the clubhouse preparing while Ohtani was wowing the crowd. "That's awesome, though." Gray attacked inside -- up with the fastball and down with the slider to set up a 3-1 fastball that Ohtani rolled to first base. Then Gray coaxed a fly ball from Martin Maldonado to end his night at 99 pitches. The game turned tighter with two out in the seventh, when Upton drove a deep home run to left off Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino, who had given up one run all season to that point. But Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances. SOUND SMART It's not just the Rockies' starters who have been dominant. Since the Rockies gave up 13 runs at home against the Padres on April 23, Rockies pitching -- relievers included -- has posted a 2.06 ERA in the last 12 games. YOU GOTTA SEE THIS Well, get a load of this on the stat sheet: When Gray pitches to catcher Tony Wolters, his ERA this season is 1.65 -- six runs in 32 2/3 innings. Keep in mind four of those occurred in one inning, during an April 14 loss at Washington. Wolters complimented Gray on being able to execute the strategy swerve. "With a more veteran team, they know Jon has a really good slider," Wolters said. "You would think they would be a little more aggressive, just knowing. But at the beginning of the game, they were very patient. "We came back in the dugout, talked with the pitching coach [Steve Foster] and Bud and decided, 'OK, we need to get the fastball where you want it. That's the No. 1 priority, then get that slider working.' "Jon simplified it to, 'That's all I need to do? Let's do it.'" MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY 3 Nolan Arenado, not the fastest runner by any means, needed a review -- and a real good angle to uphold home-plate umpire Jordan Baker's call -- to score from first for the second run of Story's double in the seventh. Arenado slid past the plate and tapped it with his left hand. It took a magnified angle to show that although Maldonado's catcher's mitt was there in time, it didn't make contact with Arenado's hand. UP NEXT A deft mix of pitches helped Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-0, 3.78 ERA) pitch seven innings with nine strikeouts -- both season highs -- in a win over the Cubs in his last start. On Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field, Anderson will face the Angels for the first time in his career. Angels starter Jaime Barria (2-1, 3.46) beat the Orioles in his last start by throwing six solid innings -- the first 5 1/3 hitless. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. MT. 4 Jon Gray propels Rockies over Angels and to sixth straight win With the bases loaded in the opening frame, Gray struck out Zack Cozart swinging on a 3-2 slider Kyle Newman / DenverPost.com | May 9, 2018 It was only the first inning of Jon Gray‘s outing against the Angels on Tuesday, and he already faced a decisive moment. After recording two quick outs, a couple hits and a walk loaded the bases for Los Angeles, and the Coors Field crowd — anxious and likely remembering Gray’s stretch of three straight askew starts in April — rose to its feet for a 3-2 pitch on Zack Cozart. But unlike those starts that went sour, Gray struck out Cozart swinging on a well-located slider down in the zone, ending the inning and the Angels’ threat. From there, he settled in, finishing with an impressive line of four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts and no earned runs in seven innings pitched while the Rockies got a few sparks on offense in a 4-2 win. “(Gray’s slider) was better as the game went on,” manager Bud Black said. “The first inning it was a little shaky — he didn’t really have the feel for the breaking ball or the fastball command — but to throw a good one to Cozart there to finally end the inning, that was a big pitch, no doubt about that.” Gray’s outing gave the Rockies a franchise record ninth straight quality start. Colorado’s rotation has allowed just 1.08 runs per start over the past dozen games, and is pitching with a perceptible aggressiveness. “We’re not walking guys — we’re going at them — and that has a lot to do with it,” Gray said. “We set the tone ourselves, and if you do that, you control the game.” The continuation of that consistency on the mound gave the Rockies’ erratic offense another pass on a night in which they had a few clutch hits but were unable to string any big innings together. DJ LeMahieu had an RBI single in the third in his return from the disabled list, and Gerardo Parra also brought home a run with a single in the sixth to give Colorado a 2-0 lead while Gray cruised. 5 Trevor Story‘s two-out, two-RBI double then made it 4-0 in the seventh, a hit that provided valuable insurance against Justin Upton’s two-run homer against Adam Ottavino in the eighth. It was the first homer the steady Ottavino has given up in 20 innings pitched this season. Wade Davis held the Angels at bay in the ninth, recording his National League-leading 14th save.

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