While Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Mother Nature provided the Friday night fireworks, the Rockies once again fizzled at Coors Field.
Stanton launched a 478-foot solo homer in the third inning off Colorado starter Eddie Butler, and the Marlins won 6-2, despite another torrential downpour that soaked LoDo and drove fans to take cover from brilliant flashes of lightning.
The rain and hail turned the stairs at the ballpark into rivers and the outfield into a chain of lakes.
The game resumed in the eighth inning at 10:45 p.m. after a 1-hour, 55-minute delay. All told, the Rockies have had eight weather delays at home this season — not counting games that were postponed — for a total of 14 hours, 29 minutes of holdups.
“It’s the worst; it’s as simple as that,” Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez said. “It’s almost like every time we play at home it’s always (a) disaster. It’s always raining or we have to sit here for over an hour every time.
“You kind of lose your momentum, and the fans leave and you feel like you are playing on your own here. It’s a different feeling. You are standing in the rain and there are hardly any fans cheering for you.
“I mean, it’s tough, but there’s nothing you can do about it but continue playing the game.”
The announced paid crowd was 32,091, but after the rain delay, there were fewer than 1,000 fans left in the ballpark.
Stanton’s blast was a memorable one. According to MLBAM’s Statcast, Stanton’s 18th homer of the season measured 478 feet, making it the longest home run at Coors Field this year. Joc Pederson’s home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night traveled 477 feet.
“He hit a (bad) slider,” Butler said. “I threw a first-pitch slider, then I threw another one — right down the middle.”
Butler knew the ball was gone as soon as Stanton connected.
“The location. The sound. Him,” Butler said when asked how he knew Butler had hit a tape-measure shot. “I just turned just to see how far the ball (went).”
The Rockies, who were counting on the current homestand to get them back to .500, fell to 10-16 at Coors Field.
“We know how important it is to win here,” manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ve been playing better, but we need to finish this homestand strong.”
CarGo agreed.
“This is our house. his is where we play the best,” he said. “It’s been that way for the entire history of the Rockies. But for us, we have been hit hard this year. We don’t get any momentum going. You either play two games or you play until one in the morning. It’s hard. It’s hard on everybody.
“I hate looking for excuses. I hate that, and there is nothing worse than making excuses. I don’t expect anybody to say, ‘Oh, poor CarGo.’ If you play bad, you’re playing bad. But it’s been hard. Hopefully the weather helps us in the future.”
While Butler struggled, Miami right-hander Tom Koehler made himself right at home. He stifled the Rockies for seven innings before the deluge, scattering eight singles. He struck out six and walked one. He is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA against the Rockies in four career starts.
“He changed speed really well and kept us off-balance,” first baseman Ben Paulsen said.
Colorado didn’t manage a hit off Koehler until Troy Tulowitzki skidded a two-out single over the second-base bag in the fourth. The Rockies finally scored in the sixth, when Charlie Blackmon singled, stole second base, advanced to third on DJ LeMahieu’s flyball to center field and finally scored on Tulowitzki’s single to left.
Tulowitzki finished the night 3-for-4, boosting his average to .303.
The Marlins took a sledgehammer to Butler twice, on Stanton’s mammoth homer and on a leadoff triple by J.T. Realmuto in the sixth. Other than that, Miami got a lot of seeing-eye grounders and bloopers.
Still, Butler — who was not sharp — gave up six runs on 11 hits in 5 innings, pushing his ERA to 4.80.
Three consecutive singles, including Realmuto’s RBI line drive to right field, put the Marlins ahead 1-0 in the first. Koehler’s squibber back to Butler made it 2-0 as Christian Yelich raced home from third base.
Butler’s night came to an end in the sixth when Dee Gordon’s double edged along the left-field line and skipped over third base, scoring Adeiny Hechavarria.
Looking ahead
Marlins’ David Phelps (2-2, 3.50 ERA) vs. Rockies’ Chris Rusin (1-0. 0.77), 2:10 p.m. Saturday, ROOT; 850 AM
Phelps, a former New York Yankee, has made one start at Coors Field, that coming in 2013 when he went six innings, allowing two runs on three hits in a no-decision. The right-hander has been treading water with the Marlins this season and is chasing his first victory since May 9 vs. the San Francisco Giants, a span of four starts. He pitched six innings last Sunday against the New York Mets, allowing three runs, one in each of the first three innings. Rusin, a former Chicago Cub, makes his second start for the Rockies as he fills the hole in the rotation caused by the season-ending foot injury to Jordan Lyles.
Sunday: Marlins’ Jose Urena (0-2, 7.24 ERA) at Rockies’ Kyle Kendrick (2-7, 6.55), 2:10 p.m., ROOT
Monday: Cardinals’ John Lackey (4-3, 2.93) at Rockies’ TBA, 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Tuesday: Cardinals’ Michael Wacha (8-1, 2.18) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (2-2, 6.15), 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
