SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Starter Jon Gray used every pitch in his arsenal, looked like the player who hit 29 homers last season and left-handed reliever Mike Dunn continued his splendid spring.
All in all, it was a good Sunday for the Rockies, who beat Oakland 9-2.
For starters: Gray, on track to be the opening-day starter April 3 at Milwaukee, pitched five innings, giving up one run on two hits. He walked just one and whiffed seven. More important, he commanded all four of his pitches — fastball, slider, curve and changeup.
“One thinking I’ve been working on lately is my slider,” Gray said. “It still don’t feel like it’s at its best right now, but I’ve made some tweaks to it and it was better today. On a good note, the changeup worked well and so did the curveball.”
BOXSCORE:
Added manager Bud Black: “Early in the game, he had the good fastball-change combo going and threw some changeups to lefties that I thought were outstanding. … Jon is growing. That’s good to see.”
Hits: Blackmon, batting .471, hit a home run and a triple, driving in three runs. … Left fielder continued his solid spring, hitting 2-for-3 from the No. 5 hole, boosting his average to .371. … Right-handed reliever bounced back from two subpar outings to strike out two in his one inning of work. … Dunn, who has been has been almost perfect, pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing no baserunners and striking out one. In seven innings, Dunn has allowed no runs, no hits and just two walks while striking out nine.
Misses: Colorado’s fielding has been solid this spring, but shortstop and second baseman Cristhian Adames each made a throwing error Sunday.
Up next: The Rockies host the Chicago Cubs at 2:10 p.m. MDT on Monday, at Salt River Fields.
Rockies probables: LHP Tyler Anderson, RHP Carlos Estevez, RHP Jairo Diaz, RHP Jason Motte.
Cubs probables: RHP Kyle Hendricks, RHP Alex Mills, RHP Wade Davis, RHP Koji Uehara, RHP Justin Grimm, RHP Dylan Floro.
