Tommy Kahnle is built like a tank and throws a fastball that whistles toward the plate at 98 mph. That’s part of why Rockies manager Walt Weiss brought him in from the bullpen in the most crucial moment of Colorado’s 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
Kahnle — listed at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds but seemingly bigger — entered with runners at the corners in the seventh inning and with a two-run lead. Kahnle threw pinch-hitter Jonathan Lucroy two fastballs (97 and 98 mph) and then threw an 89 mph change up for a double-play grounder. Kahnle also induced a double-play grounder in the eighth.
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“Tommy has done a great job, and he’s a guy that can go one-plus (innings) if you need him to, ” manager Walt Weiss said. “He just has power stuff. It doesn’t matter — right-handed or left-handed — he’s got that power changeup.”
Since being called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on June 1, Kahnle has given up no runs in eight of his nine appearances and has an 0.87 ERA. The only real blemish has been six walks to go with 11 strikeouts in 10 innings.
“I do like to come in with baserunners on,” Kahnle said. “It’s just a little extra adrenaline rush.”
Two the hard way. The key double play begun by Kahnle required true grit from second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who took a throw from third baseman Nolan Arenado, withstood a hard slide from Martin Maldonado and completed the throw to first baseman Ben Paulsen.
“That was a tough double play,” Weiss said. “Tough ball for Nolan, and then DJ really hung in there. That was really a tough turn for him. The runner was on him, but DJ is as tough as nails. He hung in there and completed a really difficult, critical double play.”
Home Brew. The Rockies continue to own the Brewers. They swept a three-game series in Milwaukee to open the season and are now 4-1 against them. Colorado is 41-22 (.651) against Milwaukee at Coors Field, the best winning percentage for the Rockies against any opponent at home.
Brewers’ Matt Garza (4-8, 5.07 ERA) at Rockies’ Chris Rusin (2-2, 5.14), 2:10 p.m. Sunday, ROOT; 850 AM
Rusin looks to rebound after a rough outing at Houston, where he gave up seven runs on nine hits in a mere four innings. The Rockies don’t expect Rusin to be acelike, but they do expect him to deliver quality innings. In three career starts vs. the Brewers as a member of the Chicago Cubs, he was 0-2 with a 6.39 ERA. Garza has not been good this season with the Brewers, going 4-8 in his 13 starts. The right-hander got rocked by the Royals in his last start, giving up six runs on a career-high 13 hits over 6 innings. Garza is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in two career starts at Coors Field.
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Diamondbacks’ Chase Anderson (3-1, 2.84 ERA) at Rockies’ Kyle Kendrick (2-9, 5.95), 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Wednesday: Diamondbacks’ Allen Webster (1-1, 6.55) at Rockies’ David Hale (2-2, 5.28), 6:40 p.m., ROOT
Thursday: Diamondbacks’ Rubby De La Rosa (6-3, 4.96) at Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (4-3, 5.47), 1:10 p.m., no TV
