MEDIA CLIPS –May 19, 2018

Desmond, Blackmon homer as Rox stifle SF

Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 18, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO -- On Friday night, Rockies turned the clock back 12 days -- most of which were dark, offensively.

Desmond launched a three-run homer in the fourth inning and an RBI double in the sixth, and went 6 2/3 innings for his fifth straight quality start, as the Rockies beat the Giants, 6-1, at AT&T Park.

On May 6, Desmond homered twice during a 4-2 road victory over the Mets. From then until his first at-bat Friday -- a fielder's-choice grounder that led to being thrown out at the plate in the second -- Desmond was 3-for-34 with 13 and two walks. With no true first-base alternative, all the booing and all the social posts couldn't excise him from manager 's lineup.

But with two swings, Desmond helped the Rockies improve to 3-1 on this road trip.

"It's something that we've seen, but not consistently from at-bat to at-bat, game to game," Black said. "But when he got hold of the fastball, his contact point was out front, resulted in a homer. The double, same thing."

It was more than a guy shaking off a slump for a night. The Rockies pulled to a half-game behind the slumping D-backs, who fell for the eighth time in the last nine games Friday (3-1 to the Mets), but nonetheless lead a National League West that is waiting for a team to surge.

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"We're winning games, and as a team we're winning games," Desmond said. "That's great. It's going to be better when we're clicking on all cylinders but this is what gets you through those dog days, when you just find a way, scratch and claw, and a different guy every night."

And Desmond knows there is a world beyond the most vocal critics. The dugout celebration was partly an expression of how much teammates were pulling for Desmond to turn as hot as he has been cold.

"Someone texted me the other day, a friend of mine back in Washington said back in 2014 I was hitting .214 on yesterday's date, and I won a Silver Slugger that year," Desmond said. "Not only was there bad offense. There was terrible defense. Sometimes I just get in these funks, snap out of them.

"As happy as they were for me, I know they're equally as frustrated when I get out. I'm not only carrying the weight of myself. I'm carrying the weight of everyone else -- people here and everywhere else around the country that are rooting for me."

Periodic production from someone will do these days, and Desmond provided that with the homer and the double, both off

Giants starter Derek Holland (2-5). For all his struggles, which include a .175 batting average, Desmond's seven homers and 21 RBIs both rank fourth on the team.

Charlie Blackmon's two-run shot off Jose Valdez in the top of the ninth, his team-high 12th homer, brought his RBI total to 23. All but one of Blackmon's homers have come on the road.

Before Desmond's homer, third baseman Nolan Arenado grabbed momentum in the bottom of the third with another standout defensive gem -- a sliding play to grab Kelby Tomlinson's hard grounder and a throw from his right knee, from foul ground, for the out at first base. Arenado also finished the inning by starting a double play, and started the threat that led to Desmond's homer in the next frame by drawing a walk.

Pitching has been a constant for the Rockies, however. Freeland (4-4), who has gone into the seventh each of his last five starts. Freeland gave up Gorkys Hernandez's first-inning leadoff homer. Freeland held the Giants to five hits, struck out five against one walk, and forced 11 groundouts with two double plays.

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"You''ve got to be your own worst critic and your own best critic," Freeland said. "When you're good, you've got to look at where your mistakes are and learn from those and learn from your success. I'm on a little bit of a roll right now. I've got to stay where I am and do the things I've been doing in previous starts."

After 's two-out single put runners at the corners with two down in the seventh, Black went to Bryan

Shaw, who froze pinch-hitter Brandon Belt with a full-count, 97 mph cutter to hold a 4-1 lead.

"When Belt took that pitch, you know it had to be quality, with some life to it," Black said.

SOUND SMART

Hernandez's homer ended a couple of streaks for Freeland -- 12 1/3 innings without a run, since the Mets' two-run first on

May 6; and 27 1/3 without a , since the Pirates' Sean Rodriguez went deep in the fourth inning on April 18. And, during the streak of five quality starts (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs), Freeland has a 1.59 ERA.

HE SAID IT

"I was having a rough day at the plate, but ran into one there at the end and maybe gave Wade [Davis, the Rockies' closer] another day of rest." -- Blackmon, who finished 1-for-5 and was 1-for-12 on the current road trip before the ninth- inning homer off Valdez

UP NEXT

Rockies righty 's last start was odd -- six runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings, but also 10 strikeouts, in a loss to the

Brewers. His slider was the best it's been all season, but his fastball (eight hits) deserted him. He had given up just one run in 20 innings in his previous three starts. Gray (4-5, 4.85) hopes to rebound Saturday at 2:05 p.m. MT against the

Giants and righty Chris Stratton (4-3, 4.88).

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Arenado dazzles on diving stop, throw from knee

Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 18, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO -- Highlight plays from Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado happen often, but each is just as exciting, even for those on the field. Arenado's third-inning dazzler during Friday night's 6-1 victoryover the Giants at

AT&T Park left Kyle Freeland raising both hands in amazement.

And, Arenado has a habit of amazing and maddening San Francisco fans.

Arenado hustled right for a grass-cutter from the Giants' Kelby Tomlinson, slid into foul ground and threw a dart from his right knee to prevent a solid-average Major League runner (in scouting parlance) from getting an infield hit to open the inning.

"You can't get anything by that guy," Freeland said. "He's incredible. He's going to wow you every single night with what he does over there. That was an incredible play on his side making that throw to first."

Such plays illustrate why #NolanBeingNolan is a hashtag, and he has a house full of awards -- including a Rawlings Gold

Glove Award for each of his previous five years in the Majors.

And after a Derek Holland single and a Gorkys Hernandez walk, Arenado fielded Andrew McCutchen's hopper to start a third-to-first double play and hold the Giants' lead at 1-0.

To keep the good feeling going, Arenado worked a walk from Holland to open the fourth, and scored three batters later on Ian Desmond's three-run homer for a 3-1 Rockies lead.

Arenado tends to make dazzling plays everywhere, but AT&T Park is a spot that has been good for him.

The most memorable came on April 14, 2015, in the eighth inning, when Arernado dove onto the tarp roll just beyond the third-base dugout for a Gregor Blanco foul ball to make the catch. The Giants had two on and trailed by three, and

Arenado's play proved a key out in a 4-1 Rockies victory. The beneficiary, pitcher Rafael Betancourt, called it "the greatest play I'd ever seen from a teammate."

Arenado's standout performances at AT&T Park and against the Giants aren't limited to his glove, either.

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On Friday, he went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored. It's fitting, considering his nine homers at the park are tied with for the Rockies' franchise record. Against the Giants, his 78 RBIs in 90 games are third among active players. Matt Kemp has 91 and Adrian Gonzalez has 85, but they did it in 185 and 178 games, respectively.

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Ian Desmond’s bat comes to life as Rockies beat Giants left-hander Kyle Freeland delivered another solid start

Patrick Saunders / Denver Post | May 18, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — Some disgruntled Rockies fans have cast Ian Desmond as Darth Vader, but on “Star Wars Night” at

AT&T Park, Desmond played the part of Luke Skywalker.

The first baseman broke out of his deep funk by blasting a three-run homer and later added an RBI double as the Rockies beat the Giants 6-1 Friday night.

“I have been in this position so many times, but you’ve just got to go,” Desmond said from a happy and noisy visitors clubhouse. “Once it gets going, it gets going. That’s pretty much the way it’s been in my career.”

Desmond provided an example, noting that a friend from his days with the had recently texted him with a message of support.

“He told me that in 2014, I was hitting (.228) on yesterday’s date, and I won a Silver Slugger that year,” said Desmond, who finished that season batting .255 with 24 homers and 91 RBIs as the Nationals’ . “Not only was there bad offense, there was terrible defense. Sometimes I just get in these funks, and snap out of them and get it behind me. That’s what I’m hopeful for here.”

The Rockies have nearly caught the sputtering Diamondbacks in the National League West. Colorado’s victory, coupled with the D-backs’ 3-1 loss the the Mets, left the Rockies a half-game out of first place. Arizona has lost eight of its last nine games.

Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland delivered another solid start, pitching 6 ⅔ innings, allowing five hits, striking out five and walking just one. Freeland’s only major mistake was a solo homer by Giants Gorkys Hernandez in the first inning. The moonshot to left ended Freeland’s streak of 27 ⅓ innings without giving up a home run. He had not allowed a homer since April 18 in the fourth inning at Pittsburgh.

“I thought the key for Kyle was that after the third inning, I thought the slider became more effective,” manager Bud Black said. “He also got some outs with the . The fastball inside was good again tonight. He jammed some guys and broke some bats.” 6

Freeland, who improved to 4-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.17, said another key was his ability to move past Hernandez’s first-inning homer.

“We just erased that from our memory really quick and got back to the work we needed to do,” he said. “I started throwing inside and playing off my fastball really well.”

Freeland pitched into the seventh for his fifth consecutive game and delivered his fifth consecutive quality start. He got jammed up in the seventh, giving up solid singles to Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford. With two outs, manager Bud

Black replaced Freeland with right-hander Bryan Shaw, who faced pinch hitter Brandon Belt. Belt is not only a left-handed batter, he’s also been swinging a hot bat. But Shaw struck out Belt looking, much to the chagrin of the Giants faithful.

Shaw, who struck out the side in a key inning in Colorado’s 5-3 victory over the Giants on Thursday night, is now in a good place after a rocky start with his new team.

“Honestly, it got to the point where I was trying to do too much,” Shaw said. “I was trying to nibble, trying to strike guys out instead of attacking guys and getting the early contact. When I go out there and try to strike guys out from pitch one, it doesn’t work out too well.”

Desmond strode to the plate in the fourth inning with a .166 average on his shoulders, with just one hit in his last 10 at- bats. Since homering twice in a game in New York against the Mets on May 6, the first baseman had been in a 3-for-34 drought that included 13 strikeouts. Desmond missed badly on starter Derek Holland’s 78 mph curveball, and it looked as if he might leave Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story stranded. But when Holland threw Desmond a 90 mph sinker,

Desmond turned on the pitch for his three-run no-doubter, propelling Colorado to a 3-1 lead.

He was mobbed in the dugout by teammates who were clearly thrilled to see him come through in a big moment.

“I was really excited,” said . “I mean, that’s a big spot. We were losing 1-0 and he hits a three-run homer to put us up by two. It was a game-winner. I know he’s been grinding and working really hard. He had a tough (first) at-bat, but it was a really professional job to come back and put a good swing on the ball that went over the fence.”

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Added Black: “This is a team. It’s a good group that is truly pulling for each other. It’s an unselfish group that, when guys are struggling, they are trying to pick them up. So that was obviously a blow that the guys felt good about, and felt good for Ian. The emotion that you saw was real. It was the real stuff.”

Desmond made it 4-1 in the sixth with a two-out double to chase home Arenado, who had led off with a double. For all of

Desmond’s struggles at the plate, he now has seven homers, fourth-most on the team, with 21 RBIs.

Blackmon added a two-run shot in the ninth inning to give the Rockies some breathing room. It was his 12th of the season, with 11 coming on the road.

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Rockies believe first NL West title is attainable — if slumping offense heats up Nolan Arenado: “Opportunity’s there, it’s just a matter of whether we take advantage of it”

Patrick Saunders / Denver Post | May 18, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — In their first 25 years of existence, the Rockies have never been able to kick down the door that leads to a National League West title.

This year, things look different. Indeed it appears that the door just needs to be unlocked, not kicked in. Now, if only the

Rockies can find the key.

“I think the opportunity is there, it’s just a matter of whether we take advantage of it or not,” all-star third baseman Nolan

Arenado said prior to Friday night’s game against the Giants. “We have a lot of work to do, and there are a lot of game left. So we just need to worry about the Giants today. Hopefully, we can win a series here. That would be huge for us, because the Giants are right behind us.”

Colorado entered Friday’s game 24-20, just 1½ games behind first-place Arizona (25-8), a team that got off to a sizzling start but has since fizzled because of key injuries and some of the worst offensive production in the National League.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of five consecutive NL West titles, are a mess. They have lost six of their last seven and are 17-26, their worst start to a season since moving to L.A. Plus, ace Clayton Kershaw remains on the disabled list, and although third baseman Justin Turner is back, it’s not a sure thing that he’ll hit with the same power after breaking his wrist.

Diamondbacks star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is mired in the longest slump of his career. The Giants (22-23) have a solid , but their starting pitching, with ace Madison Bumgarner still on the DL, is suspect. The Padres (17-28) have some good young talent, but they’re still the Padres.

The Rockies, of course, say all of the right things about their NL West brethren. But there is a sense inside the clubhouse that the their best is yet to come.

“We’re playing pretty good, as a team,” said slumping first baseman Ian Desmond, who entered Friday’s game batting

.167 and still stuck in a season-long funk. “If you break it up into sections — pitching, offense, defense — our offense hasn’t been sparkling, but as a team we’re playing well. To be 1½ games behind the Diamondback, at this point, I would say our expectations are pretty high.” 9

Thanks primarily to solid starting pitching and an excellent back end of the bullpen, the Rockies are 20-4 when they score first, and they haven’t dipped below .500 since April 11.

But the offense remains an unproductive unit, and that’s putting it diplomatically. If the Rockies had hit the ball with even a modicum of success in the first quarter of the season, they might very well be leading the division. Colorado ranks 12th in the NL with 4.0 runs per game, 14th in batting average (.228) and 12th in on-base percentage (.305). The Rockies are averaging 9.2 strikeouts per game, the 12th-highest rate in the NL.

“We know our offense is not hitting the way we normally hit,” said veteran right fielder Carlos Gonzalez. “But it’s a long season and there are a lot of games ahead of us. We are going to get hot and we are going to score a lot runs.”

Manager Bud Black repeatedly says the same thing, but so far, the results have not come. Black, however, believes in this year’s Rockies: “I know there is a long way to go, but I like this team. I think we can win this division. And I agree that we haven’t played our best — offensively.”

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Rockies Insider: Adam Ottavino, easily an all-star, making early case for greatest relieving season in club history With two more scoreless innings in San Francisco on Thursday, Ottavino boasts a 1.08 ERA and 0.64 WHIP

Kyle Newman / Denver Post | May 18, 2018

Is it too early to open the all-star ballot yet?

Rockies’ reliever Adam Ottavino, who threw two scoreless innings during Thursday night’s win in San Francisco to lower his season line to an absurd 1.08 ERA and 0.64 WHIP, continues to make a case for himself as the best reliever in the

National League.

Ottavino currently ranks second among the league’s relievers in percentage at 48.9 percent, with 44 Ks in 90 batters faced, and has been the linchpin out of the Colorado bullpen as the deadly prelude to closer Wade Davis.

A dedication to pitch design in the offseason resulted in a slider that appears as if it’s being controlled by a joystick, and

Ottavino’s sabermetics indicate just how hard it’s been to square a ball up on him in 2018.

The right-hander is second in fWAR at 1.0, a statistic that determines the number of wins a player adds to his team compared to a replacement level player, and is seventh in batting average on balls in play (BABIP) at .176.

Even when batters are able to overcome the odds and put wood on the ball, only 20.0 percent of Ottavino’s pitches this year have been hard hit, ranking him fifth in the league in that category. And per StatCast, only 3.2 percent of his total pitches have found a barrel.

If he keeps this up, Ottavino is a shoe-in to make his first all-star team, and should be one of the first relievers Dodgers manager Dave Roberts calls upon on July 17 at Nationals Park.

And if he keeps this up through the second half — while playing a pivotal role in, perhaps, a Rockies’ push for their first divisional title — Ottavino will have turned in the greatest regular season in Rockies relieving history. — Kyle Newman,

The Denver Post

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Rockies 6, Giants 1: Ian Desmond, Kyle Freeland carry Colorado to victory Kyle Freeland is really good y’all

Ryan Schoppe / Purple Row | May 18, 2018

The Rockies won yet another road game with their patented 2018 formula to pull within half a game of the NL West division lead. Combine an outstanding outing from your starting pitcher with timely home runs and then let the bullpen bring things home. After allowing a lead-off home run to the Giants’ Gorkys Hernández, Kyle Freeland spent the rest of his night ruining the Giants dreams.

Ian Desmond decided to hit the pause button on his season-long slump again and drove in the first four Rockies runs. He hit a Earl Weaver special, the three run homer, in the fourth to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead and all the runs they would need. Charlie Blackmon gave Wade Davis the night off with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to stretch the lead to

6-1.

Your Kyle Freeland has evolved

Our very own Jordan Freemyer wrote earlier today about Kyle Freeland’s progression and leveling up as a MLB pitcher this season. After a slow start to the season due to inefficient pitching, Freeland has turned things around and pitched into the seventh inning for his fifth straight start. While Freeland was slotted in the Rockies fifth spot in the rotation out of , he’s evolved into a top of the rotation style pitcher.

For the season, Freeland now has a 3.17 ERA with stellar peripherals including an 8.17 K/9 and 3.00 BB/9. He has also averaged six innings an appearance, which is particular impressive considering some of his short starts early in the season.

Jekyll and Hyde meet Ian Desmond

The struggles of Ian Desmond this season have been extremely well documented and they continued through the his first tonight and the first three pitches of his second. With Trevor Story at third base and less than two outs, Desmond failed to get the run across in the second inning. In the fourth it looked like a familiar trend. With runners at first and second and one out, Desmond took two balls before taking one of the worst looking swings at a curveball that I’ve ever seen from a non-pitcher. On the next pitch the monster came out and this happened:

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The hitting monster continued to hold control through his next at bat when Desmond drove in the Rockies fourth run on a ground rule double to center field. For Rockies fans everywhere, hopefully this is finally the time he figured it out and it sticks.

#NolanBeingNolan

Does anything really need to be said here? I guess congratulations on a sixth straight Gold glove might be it?

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Colorado Rockies starter Kyle Freeland is leveling up The 25-year-old lefty looks even better in his second big league season.

Jordan Freemyer / Purple Row | May 18, 2018

DENVER — lefty Kyle Freeland is taking his game to a new level in 2018 after an impressive debut last season.

Freeland finished seventh in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season after posting a 4.10 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 156 innings, walking 63 and striking out 107. That was a solid rookie season, especially for a pitcher that only had a dozen

Triple-A starts under his belt prior to 2017.

This season, however, Freeland has taken a step forward, with a 3.42 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in his first eight starts with 44

1 strikeouts in 47 ⁄3 innings.

“A lot of things are working,” Freeland said. “I’m filling up the zone with my fastball, slider’s been on and I’ve been able to throw quality in counts that call for it.”

Freeland has been especially strong in his last four starts, in which he has allowed just five runs on 17 hits with eight

1 walks and 27 strikeouts in 27 ⁄3innings.

“Kyle’s bounced back from a couple early starts in April to, I think, locate the fastball in better spots,” Rockies manager

Bud Black said of Freeland’s surge in results.

If Freeland can hold his 3.42 ERA for the rest of the season, it would be the fifth-best mark in Rockies history, and his

WHIP would be the second-best ever for a Rockies starter, just behind Ubaldo Jimenez’s 1.16 in 2010.

The big thing that has led to Freeland’s success has been an increase in strikeouts. Since last season, he has jumped from 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings to 8.4 and from a 15.6 strikeout percentage to 22.6. The rate of hard hit balls against him has also dropped from 32 percent to 26.1 percent, facilitating a .219 batting average against him in 2018.

“I think that’s just natural growth of getting a year under my belt,” Freeland said. “Figuring hitters out and constantly filling up the zone with strikes, keeping hitters on their heels and not really knowing what’s coming.”

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One thing Black noted about Freeland’s success this season was his ability to keep right-handed hitters off the basepaths.

Right-handers had a .366 OBP against him last season, a number that has dropped to .304 in 2018.

“He’s pitching inside to right-handed hitters, the breaking ball’s become more consistent, the spin is better pitch to pitch,”

Black said.

Freeland has been better against righties this season, but has been flat out dominant left-on-left. Opposing lefties have hit just .146/.234/.268 with 21 strikeouts in 47 plate appearances against Freeland in 2018.

The breaking pitch mentioned by Black is Freeland’s slider, which was something of his calling card coming out of college and become a go-to pitch for him in 2018, with opposing hitters batting just .148 against it this season.

“It’s continued to take steps forward and I’m learning to use it in different ways along with the back foot,” Freeland said

Freeland has also added a curveball to his repertoire this season, something he toyed with in 2017, but abandoned in the latter part of the season. Opposing hitters do not have an extra-base hit against Freeland’s curveball in 2018.

“It’s helped a lot,” Freeland said of the curve. “It’s a pitch that’s been able to have more separation off my fastball and my hard slider, where it kind of keeps them off balance and is able to get them out in front.”

Freeland will look for his fifth consecutive quality start tonight against the Giants, a team he posted a 3.22 ERA against in four starts last season. The Rockies have won three of Freeland’s last four starts, and that win is all a starting pitcher is really looking for when he takes the mound.

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Colorado Rockies: Are they picking chemistry over offense?

Olivia Greene / Rox Pile | May 18, 2018

The Colorado Rockies have been dealing with a lot of woes. Whether it’s from the offense or the pitching it’s not a pretty sight to see. The team still stuck in neutral (or in some cases, going backwards), it’s time we look back and find the root of the problems. The very first one that we should be looking at is how the Rockies picked chemistry over offense.

The 2018 season for the Colorado Rockies has been a whirlwind thus far. However, reasons for that may have first started in the off season. So with that, let’s time travel back to March when rumors of Carlos Gonzalez coming back were going around. Many, like myself, have come to the conclusion that the re-signing of Cargo was simply to keep players happy, as the front office probably had a specific player’s morale in mind, that being Nolan Arenado.

I understand that the Colorado Rockies always want to keep players happy, especially those that have contributed to the team as much as Arenado. This will probably also go into the the fact that Nolan Arenado has only a couple more years left on his contract as well. That’s all good and fine, but re-signing CarGo really cut into the projected roster of the

Rockies.

In a few ways, it was admittedly a real toss up about who would be placed where defensively before CarGo came back.

However, once he did come back, Gerardo Parra went back to left field. This put Ian Desmond right back at first with Ryan McMahon on the bench to really embrace bench for an extended time. Thus moving onto not being able to give more playing time to Mike Tauchman or having space for or .

If you just look at Gonzalez’s stats he’s playing exactly the same as he did last season for the Colorado Rockies. CarGo has a slashline of .218/.264/.386 with only 4 home runs and just 15 RBI. It shouldn’t be a cceptable to have a player that didn’t play good last year get re-offered a contract only to play the exact same in 2018. It appears at this point in the season the Rockies are really valuing a clubhouse full of familiar faces over the fresh ones. As this continues to go on, it will most likely dictate how they do the rest of the season.

The Colorado Rockies have the opportunity to go with a youth movement. They have some seriously talented young players that are just wasting away in Triple-A because they don’t want to bench or move guys down that aren’t playing good baseball. While those same guys continue to do well in the minors, the Rockies will have to struggle with some players just for the sake of keeping them to have a happy clubhouse.

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Unlikely hero powers Rockies win over Giants

Rich Allen / BSN Denver | May 18, 2018

After wrapping an extra-inning win early Friday morning for their fans back home, the Colorado Rockies went back to work at AT&T Park in the evening looking to secure at least a series split against the San Francisco Giants.

With a fatigued bullpen, the Rockies got the long outing they needed from a red-hot Kyle Freeland while Ian Desmond got the best of Derek Holland twice to lead the team to their second consecutive win.

Colorado put Holland to work early, with Charlie Blackmon working an eight-pitch at-bat and Chris Iannetta following that with a 13 pitch one to start the game. Both would fly out, and Holland worked a 1-2-3 inning, but the Rockies got an early look.

In the bottom of the frame, the Giants put Freeland to work, as well. Gorkys Hernandez drove the third pitch of the game over the center field wall to put the Giants ahead early. Buster Posey also lined a single in the frame, but Freeland escaped without further damage.

The game would remain 1-0 in favor of San Francisco until the fourth when Ian Desmond turned a ball around 393 feet to left field for a three-run home run, his seventh of the season.

Desmond made the next notch on the scoreboard in his next at-bat, driving Holland’s 111th pitch 390 feet as well, this time to straight-away center for a ground rule double scoring Nolan Arenado and making the score 4-1.

Freeland, meanwhile, dominated into the seventh, his fifth straight game going that deep. After giving up a single to

Brandon Crawford to put runners on the corners, Bryan Shaw came in for his 500th career appearance. He struck out

Brandon Belt to end the threat and preserve the three-run lead.

Freeland ended the night with five strikeouts to one walk and one run. He retired 11 hitters in a row spanning from the third to the seventh innings, including a strikeout of the side in the sixth.

Bryan Shaw continues to look stellar as of late, pushing his scoreless streak out to eight innings with 1.1 IP featuring a pair of strikeouts.

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Charlie Blackmon added an insurance two-run homer in the ninth. busting up a 1-for-12 slump he had been in and making the score 6-1.

That meant Colorado could rest the backend of their bullpen who desperately needed it. Mike Dunn worked the ninth, walking a batter and striking out a pair to end it.

The Rockies improved to 25-20, 18-9 out on the road. They are a half-game back of first place in the NL West.

FINAL STATS

Kyle Freeland: 6.2 IP, 1 R (ER), 5 H, 5 K, BB

Bryan Shaw: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K

Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Trevor Story: 2-for-3, 2B, BB

Ian Desmond: 2-for-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 BB

WHAT’S NEXT

Game three of the series between the Rockies and Giants starts at 2:05 Mountain Time. Jon Gray will look to rebound after his tough last outing, opposing Chris Stratton. Stratton is currently 4-3 with a 4.88 ERA.

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Ian Desmond comes alive at the plate, leads Rockies to 6-1 win over Giants

Rich Kurtzman / Mile High Sports | May 18, 2018

No, that headline is not a typo.

Ian Desmond has struggled mightily all season long, so much so, his $22 million paycheck this year seems like a massive waste of money. But, Desmond and his third-worst in the NL .167 batting average coming into the game pushed the

Rockies to their 6-1 win by hitting in the first four runs.

San Francisco jumped to the 1-0 lead when Gorkys Hernandez homered off Kyle Freeland, who started slowly but enjoyed his fifth straight solid outing for the Rockies.

Two innings later, in the top of the fourth, Nolan Arenado walked, Trevor Story singled and that just set the stage for

Desmond who ripped the ball out of the field of play and into the seats in left. It was only Desmond’s seventh home run of the season, and off the bat, it looked like he thought it might be off the wall, as he charged out of the box.

What it was, for anyone watching the Rockies this season, was surprising. More likely would have been Desmond hitting into a double play in that situation. Instead, he was incredibly clutch.

Two innings later, there was Desmond again, this time hitting a ground rule double as the ball bounced over the center field fence and Arenado scored, pushing the Rocks up 4-1. The Colorado Rockies are having a terrible year at the plate, currently 29th in batting average (.228), but as Jake Shapiro wrote recently, Desmond was on pace to have the worst season in the history of the MLB.

So, Desmond playing the hero on Friday night was not only unexpected, but incredibly unlikely.

Charlie Blackmon wouldn’t let Desmond steal all the spotlight, as the superstar knocked a bomb out into right field in the top of the ninth to push the Rockies lead to 6-1, the eventual winning margin. For Blackmon, it was his 12th home run on the season and 11th on the road, which is tied for the NL lead.

Freeland pitched superbly for the Rockies, going 6.2 innings, giving up five hits and the one run while striking out five.

Then, Colorado’s bullpen continued his work, disallowing another run as the Rockies won in dominant fashion.

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For the purple and black, it was a second straight huge victory on the road for a team who had lost six in eight games before Thursday. The win Friday night means the Rockies improve to 18-9 on the road, which is third-best in the majors.

18 road wins is also the most in the MLB as the Rockies continue their trend of being different than basically every other team in Colorado MLB history. It also means Colorado will at the worst, split the series with the Giants and they’ve scored

11 runs in two games, which is phenomenal considering AT&T Ballpark is a pitcher-friendly park.

The Rockies and Giants go at it for Game 3 of the series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. MT, and then, again at 2:05 p.m. on

Sunday in the last contest of the long series.

Colorado improves to 25-20, 0.5 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks for first in the NL West. In tomorrow’s game,

John Gray and Chris Straton go head-to-head as the two teams’ starting .

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Ian Desmond has HR, 4 RBIs in Rockies' 6-1 win over Giants

Associated Press / ESPN.com | May 18, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO -- As Ian Desmond scuffled through an early season slump, he got a reminder from a friend this week that he has overcome bad starts like the one he's on this year to put up a big year in the past.

He's hoping the game he had against the San Francisco Giants will be the catalyst for that kind of turnaround.

Desmond homered and drove in four runs to back another strong start by Kyle Freeland and the Colorado Rockies beat the Giants 6-1 on Friday night.

"Sometimes I just get in these funks and then snap out of them and put them behind me," Desmond said. "That's what I'm hoping for here."

Desmond came into the game with a .167 average on the season and in a 3-for-33 rut with one RBI in his previous nine games. He likened it to 2014 when he was batting .214 in mid-May for Washington before ending the season with a Silver

Slugger award.

The night didn't start off well for Desmond, who hit into fielder's choice with a man on third and one out in the second to cost Colorado a chance to score. But he quickly made up for it by hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning against Derek Holland (2-5) and then adding an RBI double in the sixth.

"He got the ball out front and squared them up," manager Bud Black said. "That was something we had seen but not consistently from at-bat to at-bat and game to game."

That was more than enough support for Freeland (4-4), who allowed a leadoff homer to Gorkys Hernandez and nothing else in 6 2/3 innings to win for the fourth time in his past five starts.

The Giants have lost three straight and nine of 11.

"We just have some guys that aren't quite locked in right now," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's tough when you get a little streak where guys aren't quite swinging like they normally do. We just couldn't get much going. Started out great with the home run. You're feeling pretty good about how it's going to go. Their guy settled down and kept us off balance."

Freeland allowed five hits and struck out five, lowering his ERA to 1.59 in his last five starts.

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Charlie Blackmon added a two-run homer in the ninth for the Rockies, who improved to 18-9 on the road.

Nolan Arenado started the first two rallies for the Rockies, drawing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning and hitting a double to lead off the sixth. The five-time Gold Glove winner also made a spectacular play in the field at third base when he slid into foul territory to stop a hard grounder and then threw Kelby Tomlinson out from his knees with a strong throw across the diamond.

"You can't get anything by that guy," Freeland said. "He's incredible. He's going to wow you every single night with what he does out there. That was an incredible play."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: 1B Brandon Belt was held out of the lineup despite homering in four straight games. Bochy said Belt banged up his knee sliding into second base earlier this week and could use a break. Belt came on as a pinch-hitter with two on in the seventh inning and struck out against Bryan Shaw. ... OF Mac Williamson has been sent on a rehab assignment to

Triple-A Sacramento. Williamson has been out since suffering a concussion April 24 and will likely need a week to 10 days before being ready to return. ... 2B Joe Panik (left thumb sprain) could begin a rehab assignment next weekend. He went on the DL April 28.

QUESTIONABLE CALLS

The Giants have been upset by late-inning called strikes the previous two games. Belt was called out to end a loss to

Cincinnati on Wednesday and complained after the game that he felt like plate umpire Doug Eddings was eager to end the game. Brandon Crawford was called out in the 12th inning Thursday by Chris Segal and ejected after dropping his bat near home plate.

Joe Torre from the commissioner's office called Belt this week to talk to him about the comments but Bochy said he didn't know if there was any discipline handed down.

UP NEXT

Chris Stratton (4-3) takes the mound for the Giants against Jon Gray (4-5).

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