The Guardians got the hits and made the key plays when they had to. The Rockies did not.
And so the Guardians beat the Rockies, 4-3, in 10 innings Tuesday night at Coors Field, denying the Rockies their first three-game winning streak since April 29-May 1.
Jose Ramirez, the majors’ RBI leader with 62, put Cleveland ahead 4-3 in the 10th. He drove in ghost runner Amed Rosario with a blistering double to right field that took a wicked hop and nearly hit first baseman C.J. Cron in the head.
The Rockies had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the frame, but ghost runner Charlie Blackmon got caught between home and first on Brendan Rodgers’ nubber in front of the plate and was thrown out. The game ended when Emmanuel Clase induced Cron to ground into a double play.
Closer Daniel Bard pitched a gutsy ninth inning to give the Rockies a chance. Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez led off with a single off of shortstop Jose Iglesias’ glove and Steven Kawn ripped a ball off Cron’s glove for what was officially ruled a single.
With two on and no outs, Bard bore down. Austin Hedges couldn’t handle the heat of Bard’s fastball and fouled out to catcher Bryan Serven while trying to execute a sacrifice bunt. Bard then struck out Myles Straw looking at a 100 mph fastball and got Rosario to ground out softly back to the mound.
Cleveland starter and strikeout artist Shane Bieber was controlling the Rockies until Blackmon sat on Bieber’s 1-1 curveball with two outs in the seventh. Blackmon blasted it deep into the Rockies’ bullpen for a two-run homer to tie the game, 3-3.
Blackmon’s 10th homer of the season was the 201st of his career, tying him with Dante Bichette for the sixth-most in franchise history.
Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela pitched a solid, workmanlike game, but the Guardians cobbled together some seeing-eye hits and used their speed on the bases. Senzatela pitched six innings, allowed eight hits and gave up three runs (two earned).
Steven Kwan led off the third with an infield single, advanced to third on Rosario’s double and scored on Ramirez’s two-run single.
Cleveland extended its lead to 3-1 in the sixth. Ramirez drew a leadoff walk off Senzatela, swiped second and took third on catcher Brian Serven’s throwing error. Second baseman Brendan Rodgers, however, should have at least knocked the ball down. Ramirez subsequently scored on Josh Naylor’s single.
Bieber, making his first trip to Coors Field, as well as his first start against the Rockies, came into Tuesday’s game on quite a roll. Over his previous starts, the right-hander was 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA, 39 strikeouts and only one walk. And while the Rockies never threw a knockout punch — at least not until Blackmon’s homer — they jabbed him pretty well. Over 6 2/3 innings, Bieber gave up three runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out seven.
The Rockies had a chance to get to Bieber early but left men stranded in scoring position. Sam Hilliard — who’s struggling mightily at the plate but got the start in left field — came up twice with a chance to drive in a run. Bieber struck him out twice.
In the second, with Iglesias on second and Brian Serven on first, Hilliard struck out looking to end the inning.
Iglesias and Randal Grichuk opened the fourth with singles off Bieber, but Serven grounded into a double play and Bieber struck on Hilliard swinging at a 3-2 curveball to end another inning.
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