No lead is ever presumed safe at Coors Field. That’s especially true when the 2015 Rockies take the diamond.
The Rockies blew an early 7-0 lead, but then stormed back to beat the Texas Rangers 8-7 on Monday night before an announced crowd of 35,027.
The unlikely and certainly relieved hero was Ben Paulsen, who had appeared to be the fall guy for an earlier, embarrassing, mental error. Paulsen delivered a walk-off single off the Rangers’ Tanner Scheppers to win the game, chasing home Drew Stubbs, who was pinch running for Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a single by Carlos Gonzalez.
It was the first walk-off hit of Paulsen’s career.
“It’s frustrating when you make bonehead plays, but you just have to forget about it and keep going,” Paulsen said. “It’s funny how it worked out where I got the chance to get the big hit.”
His drive into the gap in left-center lifted the Rockies to their fifth consecutive home victory. With a 22-24 record at Coors, they are nearly back to .500 in LoDo.
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“I’m really happy for Benny,” manager Walt Weiss said. “He comes up and get a huge hit for us to win the game. He certainly got redemption.”
Colorado’s victory sure didn’t come easily.
After cranking out seven hits in the first two innings, the Rockies had no more hits until the critical ninth inning. They loaded the bases on three walks in the eighth, but DJ LeMahieu popped out to end the threat.
Adrian Beltre delivered a two-out single off closer John Axford to tie the game 7-7 in the ninth.
The three-run fifth inning that got the Rangers back in the game was as messy and ridiculous as Abbott and Costello’s classic “Who’s on First” skit.
With one out and two men on, the Rangers’ Prince Fielder grounded out to Paulsen, who stepped on first. Thinking he had recorded the third out, Paulsen began jogging to the Rockies’ dugout. Meanwhile, Texas starting pitcher Nick Martinez scored from third, and Rougned Odor, taking advantage of Paulen’s mental lapse, scored all the way from second, sliding home to beat Paulsen’s late throw. Fielder was officially credited with two RBIs on the strange play.
Weiss, commenting Paulen’s error as well as his game-winning hit, delievered his best line of the season.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve see two walk-offs in one night,” he said.
Toss in a throwing error by Rockies starter Chris Rusin on Martinez’s bunt early in the inning, and it made for an ugly inning.
Texas then trimmed its deficit to 7-6 in the seventh on a double to right-center by Beltre off reliever Tommy Kahnle. Fielder, huffing and puffing every step of the way, scored from first base.
Three runs in the first, and four more in the second, staked Colorado to a 7-0 lead. Nolan Arenado’s two-run double was the key hit in the first, and Tulowitzki’s two-run homer provided fireworks in the second.
Tulo, fighting off a nasty head cold he picked up from his infant son, Taz, sounded terrible before the game. He told teammates to keep their distance, lest they catch the Tulo bug.
Then he went out and swatted his 12th homer of the season, a soaring 443-foot shot to left. Tulo extended his streak of reaching base to 41 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors and tied for the second-longest in Colorado history. Tulo joined some fine company. Andres Galarraga had a 41-game streak in 1997 and Todd Helton matched it from late 2007 into 2008. The franchise leader is Michael Cuddyer, now with the New York Mets, who reached base in 46 straight games from April 23 to June 30 in 2013, the year he won the National League batting title.
Rusin’s starting pitching line looks ugly at first glance, but he actually pitched pretty well. In six innings, he gave up five runs — just two earned — on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one. Rusin has now recorded a quality start in each of his last five starts since June 21 vs. Milwaukee. He has a 2.97 ERA with 19 strikeouts over that span.
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or
