This is why Jon Gray remains such an intriguing and promising part of the Rockies’ rotation:
In the seventh inning of Saturday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the right-hander struck out Randal Grichuk on three pitches: a 95.9 mph fastball, a 79.6 mph curve and a 97.9 mph heater that Grichuk stared at for strike three.
Gray’s excellent outing paved the way for Colorado’s 4-2 win on a perfect early-June evening at Coors Field. The game was completed in a swift 2 hours, 28 minutes.
“Jon pitched really well,” manager Bud Black said. “He was efficient, the pitch count was down and he was throwing strikes and mixing pitches. Good for Jon. He kept the momentum that we had in the first inning and he kept it all the way through.”
Gray pitched 6 ⅔ scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out seven. He needed only 87 pitches (53 strikes) as he improved to 5-4 and dropped his ERA to 4.11. Gray likely would have gone even deeper into the game, except that a “hot spot” on his middle finger flared up a little bit.
“I don’t want it to turn into anything where I would have to miss a start or two,” Gray said.
Jon Gray On offseason work paying off.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp)
The victory extended the Rockies’ winning streak to a season-high seven games and guaranteed them of at least an 8-2 homestand. If the Rockies beat Toronto on Sunday to complete the three-game sweep, they’ll finish 9-1, tying a franchise-best record for a 10-game homestand. That has been done only once, when the 2009 team went 9-1 from Sept. 1-10.
Gray, who made his 101st career start, is gaining momentum, and that could be huge for the Rockies going forward. He is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA over his last three starts, and is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts at Coors Field.
Asked what was working so well Saturday night, Gray answered: “The defense, for one. They probably stole about three or four hits from the Blue Jays. And I tried to keep (the Blue Jays) in a rocking chair by keeping them off-balance.”
Two web gems, in particular, deserve mention. In the fifth, third baseman Nolan Arenado picked off Danny Jansen’s grounder down the baseline and threw a bullet across the diamond as he drifted toward the Toronto dugout. In the sixth, after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a double, right fielder David Dahl made a diving catch to rob Justin Smoak of an RBI single.
Things got dicey for Colorado in the ninth as reliever Carlos Estevez tried to preserve the shutout. Smoak led off with a 438-foot solo home run to center. Estevez got the next two outs, but shortstop Trevor Story’s throwing error off Cavan Biggio’s grounder kept the door propped open for Toronto, and when Danny Jansen doubled home Biggio, the lead was cut to 4-2.
Closer Scott Oberg came on in emergency relief to induce a groundball out from Rowdy Tellez, preserving the win.
Colorado’s rampaging offense was slowed down, just a bit, by Toronto right-hander Marcus Stroman, but it delivered some key hits.
The Rockies jumped on Stroman in the first inning for a 3-0 lead that turned out to be all they needed. Story and David Dahl singled, and the sizzling Arenado drove in Story with a single. Then Daniel Murphy lined a double to left-center, scoring Dahl and Arenado.
Arenado extending his hitting streak to 12 games, during which he has hit .479 (23-for-48), with four home runs, four doubles and 16 RBIs.
Raimel Tapia, the Rockies’ resident roadrunner, who’s fast becoming a fan favorite, provided a bonus run in the fifth. He brought the crowd of 34,025 to its feet, racing around the bases as the Blue Jays played Keystone Cops. Tapia doubled and took third when center fielder Jonathan Davis misplayed the ball, and when Biggio’s relay from second ended up in the camera well, Tapia trotted home with a Little League-style “homer.”
“That’s how we play,” Black said, emphasizing his desire for the Rockies to push the envelope on the bases.
