CINCINNATI — A vintage CarGo show rolled into Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night as the Rockies beat the Reds 9-6.
opened his act in the fourth inning with a laser throw from right field to nail Tucker Barnhart trying to stretch a single into a double. But CarGo was just getting warmed up.
In the seventh, Gonzalez launched a three-run homer into the stratosphere off reliever Wandy Peralta. When the ball landed near the faux steamboat beyond the wall in right-center, it had traveled 473 feet, according to Statcast. That fell 3 feet short of Gonzalez’s 476-foot homer here off Pedro Villarreal on June 5, 2013, five years earlier to the day.
Told of the significance of June 5, Gonzalez, of course, was ready with a classic CarGo quote: “Tonight was a good night. June 5. Don’t forget that. Remind me every year and remind the manager that I have to play on June 5.”
There was a dark cloud to the victory. Right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw, who signed a three-year, $27 million deal, continues to struggle mightily. He gave up three runs on five hits in the ninth inning, turning a Colorado cruise into a nail-biter. Closer Wade Davis had to come to the rescue and get a one-out save by striking out Scott Schebler. It was Davis’ 19th save.
Asked if Shaw’s struggles are about more than poor pitch location, manager Bud Black said: “I don’t think so. Two hits were hit extremely soft down the left-field line. Not hard hits, but they are hits. That’s baseball. Things definitely aren’t going his way, for sure. But there are some things were are working on internally with mechanics and pitch selection that I would rather not say publicly.”
Shaw’s ERA has soared to 7.36, which is more than double his 3.39 career ERA. He has a 1.74 WHIP (vs. a 1.26 career WHIP), and teams are batting .325 against him (vs. .244). Over his last eight appearances, Shaw’s ERA is 16.71.
But on this night, at least, the Rockies were able to weather another bullpen meltdown. The 17 hits by the Reds were their most in a nine-inning loss since Sept. 5, 1984, at San Diego.
As the weather has heated up, so has Gonzalez, who batted 3-for-5 on Tuesday night. Over the past eight games, he’s batting .438 (14-for-32).
Gonzalez’s clout tied for the 16th-longest homer in Great American’s history. The longest homer ever at the GAP was clubbed by Cincinnati’s Adam Dunn on Aug. 10, 2004, off the Dodgers’ Jose Lima. According the Reds’ media relations department, Dunn’s homer “cleared the batter’s eye, bounced onto Mehring Way and came to rest on a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River.”
Gonzalez’s theatrics overshadowed a number of plus performances by the Rockies, who snapped a season-high four-game losing streak. Start with pitcher Kyle Freeland, who allowed three runs on nine hits over 6⅔ innings. He cruised until the seventh inning before his command faltered and Cincy ripped him for two runs on three hits and a walk. Freeland also gave up a long solo homer to Schebler in the fifth.
“Overall, I was definitely pleased. The main thing was the win. Our offense put up a lot of runs early and didn’t stop,” said Freeland, who improved to 6-5 and recorded a win for the fifth time in his last six starts.
Black continues to be impressed with Freeland’s growth as a pitcher.
“He’s been throwing very well, and it’s a good team feeling when you have pitchers like that,” Black said. “That’s our goal, within our starting rotation group, to have that feeling each and every night. I like how Kyle was throwing strikes. The last couple of innings kind of got away from him, but he’s making pitches when he needs to.”
Gonzalez’s assist in the fourth wasn’t Colorado’s only defensive gem. made a great catch and throw from shortstop in the first to nail Barnhart, and left fielder threw out Jesse Winkler at the plate to end the seventh.
Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, making his first big-league start since Sept. 28, 2016, received a rude reception. led off with a single up the middle and scored on ‘s triple down the first-base line that right fielder Winkler struggled to corral. The lead grew to 2-0 on Gonzalez’s infield chopper into no-man’s land that scored Blackmon.
Chris Iannetta’s two-run homer in the second scored Ian Desmond, who had led off with a single. The 4-0 cushion gave Freeland a nice safety net.
“I never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the barrel,” former Indiana Rep. Charles Brownson said of the press. But we need your help to keep up with the rising cost of ink.
.
