MILWAUKEE — Welcome to Rockies baseball, Bud Black, where churning guts and nail-biting are an inherent part of the manager’s job.
The difference this time around, for one game at least, was that the bullpen, so bad last season, didn’t crumble in crunchtime. New closer Greg Holland posted his first save after Adam Ottavino survived a perilous high-wire act in the eighth inning.
And so Black notched his first victory wearing the color purple as the Rockies held on to beat Milwaukee 7-5 at sold-out Miller Park on Monday afternoon.
“We checked off a lot of boxes in that baby. That was a little bit of everything,” Black said after exhaling. “It ended with great defense. We had a homer. We had a double. We had some pitches made. We had walks, we had strikeouts, we had bloopers, we had broken-bat hits. … How about that? It’s a lot of action on opening day. I think the fans got their money’s worth today.”
Black watched would-be ace pitch four superb innings and then fall apart; saw the Rockies rally; held his breath as Ottavino walked two batters before striking out the next three; then celebrated when the Rockies clinched the win when third baseman Nolan Arenado — who else? — started a double play from his knees to end the ninth inning.
All told, the Rockies’ bullpen pitched five scoreless innings, as Gray was charged with five runs and didn’t get an out in the fifth. Carlos Estevez, credited with the win, pitched a perfect sixth inning, and new left-hander Mike Dunn allowed a walk but struck out two in the seventh.
“I was very pleased with the bullpen,” Black said. “It wasn’t always easy, but they got the job done.”
BOXSCORE:
In the eighth, Ottavino walked Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to open the inning. Disaster loomed, but Ottavino then struck out three Brewers in succession and walked off the mound pumping his fist. Pinch-hitter Hernan Perez missed an extra-base hit down the right-field line by about 18 inches before Ottavino whiffed him to end the inning.
“I finally figured out my slot on (my slider), and once I figured out my slot and my timing, I just started to let it go from that point on,” Ottavino said. “I was embarrassed by how I threw to the first two hitters, but once I got two outs, it was like, ‘I can’t stop now; I have to get this guy and let it all out and get that last strike.’ ”
A pinch-hit bloop double to left by Alexi Amarista scored to give Colorado an insurance run in the ninth.
Colorado took a 6-5 lead in the seventh, compliments of some poor fielding by the Brewers. With the base loaded, grounded sharply to shortstop Orlando Arcia for what looked like an inning-ending double play. But second baseman Jonathan Villar lost the handle before getting off the throw, allowing to score and Wolters to scoot to third.
Playing aggressively, Blackmon stole second and Wolters scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by catcher Jett Bandy.
Reynolds, holding the fort at first base until Ian Desmond returns, had a big day, batting 2-for-3 and driving in three runs. He put the Rockies ahead 2-0 in the second with a homer off Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra, the second opening-day homer of Reynolds’ career.
Gray dominated the first four innings, allowing no runs, two hits and striking out seven. It all came undone in Milwaukee’s five-run fifth. The first five batters reached, and Black removed Gray after back-to-back two-run doubles by Jonathan Villar and Eric Thames.
Reliever Scott Oberg was able to limit the damage, giving up an inherited run on another double, this one by Travis Shaw.
