MEDIA CLIPS –May 29, 2018 Rockies come back, get walk-off win in 10th Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 29, 2018 DENVER -- Veteran Rockies weathered a slow offensive start and some recent bullpen hiccups, knowing there would be nights like Monday -- when Chris Iannetta's bases-loaded ground-ball single in the 10th inning delivered a 6-5 victory over the Giants. The wild Memorial Day game was delayed 55 minutes at the start by a hailstorm. But when everything had cleared, the Rockies went to bed in first in the National League West by 1 1/2 games over the D-backs. It was fitting that Iannetta finished it on a grounder that crawled past pitcher Hunter Strickland and trickled under the glove of second baseman Kelby Tomlinson. Iannetta has a .220 batting average, but it also was his eighth walk-off hit -- his first since May 11, 2016, when he homered in the 11th for the Mariners in a 6-5 victory over the Rays. "Everyone's making a big deal about our offense," Iannetta said. "We don't like the way that we're playing offensively, [but] we have a collection of really good hitters, and we know that. We're going to play to our potential and above our potential at times, and there are times when you play long enough that you're going to be underneath that." Iannetta's hit ended a parade of solid at-bats -- some by hitters who were "underneath" what the Rockies would like. 1 • Nolan Arenado came to the plate 2-for-14 against Strickland (2-2) and drew a walk, then took second on a deep fly to center by Trevor Story -- who had a three-run homer in the first inning. • Carlos Gonzalez, who had lost some of his intimidation factor during his slow start, accepted an intentional walk after going 2-for-4 previously. The game came on the heels of Gonzalez going 4-for-4 with a homer in Sunday's 8-2 victory over the Reds. • Ian Desmond, hitting .184, had two hits and two RBIs, including a key sacrifice fly. He loaded with a one-out single off Strickland, against whom he had been 0-for-6. Andrew McCutchen nearly made a sliding catch in right field. "Just like I've been saying, we're winning games in all different kinds of ways," Desmond said. Desmond, because of a team-high $22 million salary this year and his struggles, has been a target of fan discontent all season. But Desmond had the solid offensive game and made a key defensive play from first base in the top of the 10th to help Bryan Shaw (2-3), who himself is a high-paid vet -- three years, $27 million -- who has struggled recently. Shaw had been scored upon in his previous three outings, but escaped after giving up Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford singles to open the 10th. Desmond helped him, by fielding an Austin Jackson chopper and throwing out Crawford at third. Shaw extracted two more grounders. "We continued to make those same pitches I made to those first two guys ... and we got some good plays by the defense behind me," Shaw said. Shaw's escape came after Wade Davis walked two and hit a batter with two out in the ninth but worked Longoria into a soft liner. "The games in San Francisco a couple weeks ago were hard-fought, and when you win them, you feel good," Rockies manager Bud Black said. 2 Black also lauded starting pitcher Chad Bettis for battling through six innings. However, Longoria's two-run double five batters in raised Bettis' first-inning ERA to 8.10 this season, and a four-hit, two-run sixth -- which included pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval's go-ahead RBI single -- lifted his number in that inning to 10.79. He also has a 7.06 home ERA against 2.03 on the road. But Bettis has a team win to feel good about while working on his pitch location. "I wasn't as sharp as I could've been," Bettis said. "Some of those pitches could've been a little bit better located, especially in that first." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Rookie lefty Harrison Musgrave, who had pitched well but not often in tight games previously, needed just 21 pitches to finish the seventh and eighth cleanly. The recent struggles of lefty Chris Rusin -- at least one run against in six of his last seven appearances -- led to Musgrave's chance. Also, the Rockies couldn't go to highly effective Adam Ottavino, who went to the 10-day disabled list Monday with a left oblique strain. "Good poise, not fazed by being here, great heartbeat, he has some weapons," Black said. "We liked him last Spring Training. He was very close to making our team. "This guy is a little bit under the radar, but very effective. He's been a very solid Minor League pitcher. You look at his win- loss record, look at some of the internal numbers, you can't ignore that." SOUND SMART Charlie Blackmon was caught stealing in the seventh to end the Rockies' streak of 16 successful steal attempts. It's the second-longest such run in club history behind an 18-gamer (May 18-June 6, 2012). HE SAID IT 3 "As long as you come out, you're making noise, we feed on that -- whether you're booing me or cheering me, I don't care, just make some sort of noise." -- Desmond, on how being a discontent target doesn't bother him UP NEXT Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland (4-5, 3.28 ERA) has a string of six quality starts. The increased use of the changeup to go with his fastball, slider-cutter and sinker has rounded out his plan of attack. Freeland will start Tuesday against Giants righty Jeff Samardzija (1-3, 6.23). 4 Ottavino goes on DL; LeMahieu set for at-bats Thomas Harding / MLB.com | May 28, 2018 DENVER -- Right-hander Adam Ottavino -- whose .092 batting average against is second-lowest among Major League relievers -- landed on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, and righty reliever Scott Oberg was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque, the Rockies announced Monday. Also, Rockies manager Bud Black announced Monday that second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who has missed 13 games with a left thumb injury, will go to Scottsdale, Ariz., for a couple of days in extended spring games, then possibly be activated. LeMahieu has a slash line of .279/.350/.457 with five home runs from the No. 1 and No. 2 batting-order positions. Ottavino, 32, last pitched Sunday, when he recorded two outs in an 8-2 victory over the Reds. Upon learning of the strain, which is considered mild, the club decided to rest Ottavino to keep it from worsening. In addition to holding opponents to 8-for-87, he ranks fifth in the National League among relievers with an 0.95 ERA and has 45 strikeouts (third in the Majors) among 99 batters faced. Oberg, 28, began the year with the Rockies but was optioned on April 24 with a 6.55 ERA in 10 appearances. At Albuquerque, Oberg posted a 1.88 ERA in 12 appearances with two saves and 13 strikeouts against two walks. The Rockies hope for a similar comeback to the one Oberg fashioned late last season. Oberg bounced between the Majors and Triple-A, but in September he posted a 2.03 ERA in 14 appearances. If he is right, the Rockies could benefit from Oberg's success as a fireman. Last year, just six of 38 inherited runners (15.8 percent) scored. This year before the option, 11 of 13 (84.6 percent) scored. 5 Chris Iannetta’s walk-off single gives Colorado Rockies win over San Francisco Giants in 10th inning The game had the makings of an early blowout, but Chad Bettis showed some staying power Patrick Saunders / DenverPost.com | May 29, 2018 Chris Iannetta has had more theatrical walk-off hits in his long big-league career. But as the veteran catcher well knows, a game-winning hit is something to be cherished, no matter what package it comes in. Monday night at Coors Field, Iannetta scooted a bases-loaded, up-the-middle, walk-off single in the 10th inning off Hunter Strickland to drive in Nolan Arenado and lead Colorado to a 6-5 win over San Francisco. It was the eighth walk-off hit of Iannetta’s career. “I was trying to hit something up the middle,” Iannetta said. “I was able to do that. It ended up not being as much barrel as (I wanted), and it ended up dribbling up there instead of a line drive, but we will definitely take it.” The last walk-off RBI of Iannetta’s career came more than two years ago, on May 11, 2016 as a member of the Seattle Mariners. He hit a solo homer in the 11th to lift Seattle to a 6-5 win over Tampa Bay. The Rockies’ 10th inning began with Arenado drawing a walk off Strickland, then scooting to second on Trevor Story‘s fly to deep center. An intentional walk to Carlos Gonzalez and a single by Ian Desmond filled the bases. Giants right fielder Andrew McCutchen almost made a sliding catch on Desmond’s sinking liner, but the ball popped out of McCutchen’s glove. The Rockies’ victory improved them to 29-25, keeping them 1 ½ games in front of Arizona for the lead in the National League West.