MEDIA CLIPS – June 2, 2017 Rockies homer for rookie, snap skid in Seattle By Greg Johns and Josh Horton / MLB.com | June 1st, 2017 SEATTLE -- Mark Reynolds and Nolan Arenado cranked home runs and rookie Kyle Freeland picked up his sixth win of the year as the Rockies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Mariners on Thursday at Safeco Field. The win moved the Rox (34-22) back into the National League West lead, tied with the D-backs, by a half-game over the Dodgers. "Keeping pace is the key for us," Reynolds said. "We got back on the right track on the road with a win, which I think we needed as a club." It was a tough day for the Mariners (25-30), who saw their four-game win streak come to an end and also lost standouts Nelson Cruz and Jean Segura to injuries. • Mariners hopeful injuries aren't serious Freeland gave up six hits and two runs over six innings, improving to 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA. He got plenty of help early as Reynolds opened a four-run second with a two-run homer and Arenado followed with a solo shot in the third for a 5-1 lead. Gerardo Parra went 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Greg Holland slammed the door in the ninth for his Major League-leading 20th save. Mariners starter Yovani Gallardo didn't fare well in his shortest outing of the season, giving up six hits and five runs in three innings, as he fell to 2-6 with a 6.24 ERA. Long reliever Casey Lawrence struck out nine while limiting the Rockies to one run over the next five frames. Gallardo said he feels good physically and is fighting to find a reason for his struggles. 1 "This is the best I've felt in the last 2-3 years. You can see it the way the ball is coming out and velocity and everything," said the 11-year veteran. "It's been up. It's just frustrating. I prepare myself each and every start to go out and give my team a chance to win, and when something like that happens, it's tough. I wish I had a better answer for it. I haven't done my job this year." Guillermo Heredia laced a solo homer off Freeland in the second, but Seattle went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 on the day. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Reynolds' roll continues: The 33-year-old hit 14 homers in 118 games last year for the Rockies. He equaled that number Thursday in his 52nd game of the season, and it was a prodigious two-run blast off Gallardo, projected at 450 feet by Statcast™, over the out-of-town scoreboard in left field. The blast was the second-longest by Reynolds this year, and his sixth-longest since Statcast™ began measuring in 2015. His only longer non-Coors Field homer in that span was a 451-foot shot in '15 in Milwaukee when he was with the Cardinals. Rally cut off in fourth: Freeland hit three Mariners batters in his six innings, including Ben Gamel and Carlos Ruiz leading off the fourth. Gamel then took third on a fielder's-choice groundout by Segura. But the Rockies limited the damage when Danny Valencia lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score Gamel and narrow the lead to 5-2, as third baseman Arenado cut off the throw home from Parra and fired to second baseman DJ LeMahieu to get Segura trying to advance. Segura wound up hurting his ankle and had to come out of the game on the inning-ending play. QUOTABLE "He has started before for the Blue Jays. This is probably the best stretch of success he's had in the big leagues, getting people out using all three of his pitches. But we have to get Gallardo back on track, doing what he does, getting us six innings and keeping us in the ballgame. It just hasn't happened the last couple times." -- Mariners manager Scott Servais, on whether Lawrence could earn a rotation spot SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Lawrence set a Mariners record for most strikeouts by a reliever in a game, breaking the mark of eight set eight times, the last by Julio Mateo in 2003 vs. the White Sox. The last Major League reliever with nine strikeouts in a game was David Phelps of the Yankees on April 26, 2013. Lawrence's previous career high for strikeouts in a game was four. A PAIR OF INJURIES FOR MARINERS Segura left the game in the fourth inning when he hurt his right ankle sliding into second base, trying to advance on the sacrifice fly by Valencia. Cruz exited an inning later when he was pinch-hit for by Boog Powell at the designated hitter position after taking a fastball off his right hand in his third-inning at-bat against Freeland. 2 WHAT'S NEXT Rockies: The Rockies travel to San Diego for a three-game series with the Padres on Friday at 8:10 p.m. MT. Colorado starts rookie right-hander German Marquez, who has been phenomenal in his last four starts, posting a 1.46 ERA. Mariners: Christian Bergman (2-2, 4.67 ERA) gets the start in Friday's 7:10 p.m. PT series opener against the Rays at Safeco Field. The 29-year-old right-hander threw seven shutout innings with four hits in a 5-0 win at Boston in his last outing. 3 Patient Reynolds can still show off power Slugger, who's sacrificed pop to reach base more often lately, hits 450-foot HR By Josh Horton / MLB.com | June 1st, 2017 SEATTLE -- Rockies slugger Mark Reynolds' two-run home run in the second inning on Thursday provided a reminder he's still a power hitter to be reckoned with. The 33-year-old right-handed-hitting slugger muscled a high fastball for a Statcast-projected 450-foot home run to left- center field in the Rockies' 6-3 series-ending win over the Mariners on Thursday. It was his sixth-longest home run of the Statcast™ Era and the fourth-longest by a Rockies player this season. It was hit at a 20-degree launch angle with an exit velocity of 110.8 mph, the third hardest-hit home run for Colorado this season (Reynolds boasts all three of the Rockies' hardest-hit homers). "It was a big hit for our club," said Reynolds. "To get a couple runs early, hitting is contagious, and we were able to get a few more runs that inning, and get [Kyle] Freeland to go out there and not feeling like he has to be perfect." It was a powerful start to the month for Reynolds after a mild, but effective May. His slugging percentage dipped from .606 in March/April to .484 in May, but his batting average (.319) and on-base percentage (.404) were improved from the opening month of the season (.298, .362). An emphasis on being patient at the plate helped with that. "Sometimes you have to hit what you're given," said Reynolds, who had only one extra-base hit in the previous 19 games entering Thursday. "You're not going to go out and hit doubles and homers every time. Sometimes you're going to have a battle, take your singles and get on base with walks or whatever. You have to try and pick your spots where you have to hit one far." Reynolds can only dream of how far it would have traveled at slugger-friendly Coors Field in Denver, but he'll settle for his second-longest home run outside of Coors Field in the Statcast™ Era; he launched one a Statcast-projected 451 feet in Milwaukee while with the Cardinals in 2015. 4 Playing in an American League ballpark allowed manager Bud Black a rare opportunity to place Reynolds, Gerardo Parra and Ian Desmond in the lineup together since Desmond has come back from a left hand injury. It's been a balancing act, but a good day-to-day predicament for Black. "We've talked about our depth, and we need all these guys," Black said. "It's going to take all of them. It truly is." But it will be hard for Black to exclude Reynolds from the lineup after he's proven to be a viable hitter in several ways. "He's got a powerful swing. He's got strong hands, strong forearms. He's got that type of lift in his swing," Black said. "But what's been impressive for us is that, even though he still has that life, he's made some adjustments the last couple of years to cut down on strikeouts and shorten up when he needs to. "He's really done some good things with his swing to improve his batting average, to improve his production." 5 Atypical leadoff man Blackmon racks up RBIs Rockies' No. 1 hitter not slowing down, drives in MLB-leading 47th run with sac fly By Josh Horton / MLB.com | June 1st, 2017 SEATTLE -- Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon isn't the typical leadoff hitter. Even while hitting in the top spot in the order, Colorado's long black-bearded star outfielder is on pace for 136 RBIs after plating a Major League-best 47 runners in the club's first 56 games.