At Salt River Fields
DJ LeMahieu, quietly, of course, is having an excellent spring. The Rockies’ second baseman is batting 13-for-29 (.448) with four doubles and a home run.
But there was nothing quiet about his home run — a fourth-inning grand slam Thursday against Angels right-hander Kenyan Middleton. LeMahieu worked through a nine-pitch at-bat before drilling a slider to center field.
“He was throwing really hard, but I finally got a breaking ball to hit,” said LeMahieu, who fought off a 97 mph fastball before swatting his home run. “I feel pretty comfortable at the plate right now.”
On the mound: Left-hander Tyler Anderson cruised through his first two innings before giving up a long home run to Mike Trout in the third inning on a 3-2 pitch. The wheels came off in the fourth when the Angels banged out two more home runs. “He’s working through his stuff,” manager Bud Black said. “He might have tired a little bit in the fourth, which is something you can expect when you have a couple of hard innings. … As we move closer, he’s got to refine his location. Tyler is a pitcher who’s going to have to rely on location.” … Closer Wade Davis gave up a run on two hits, and Yency Almonte took the loss when he gave up a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
At the plate: David Dahl, pushing to make the roster, hit his fifth homer, a solo shot to lead off the sixth inning and put Colorado ahead 8-7. … Charlie Blackmon, hitting leadoff, went 2-for-3 with a double, and Trevor Story (hitting .448) went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Worth noting: In his first start of the Cactus League, Carlos Gonzalez started in right field and went 1-for-3, singling in his first at-bat. Gonzalez came around to score.
Up next: Rockies at Angels, 2:10 p.m. (MDT). Rockies RHP German Marquez vs. Angels RHP Shohei Ohtani.
