didn’t hesitate. For one, he knew he had the wheels to snatch two bases off a chopper to second. The Rockies infielder also knew that the way balls are flying around right now, every scoring play — even the 10th one — would be precious.
“I don’t think anybody would come here and feel comfortable with a lead,” the Rockies rookie said of his scrappy run, the last of the 19 combined scored in a 10-9 Colorado victory over Cincinnati on Sunday.
“Anytime you can add an insurance run, itap big. We won by one, but could’ve won by seven, who knows?”
Hampson scored from second base, sliding home head-first, to beat the throw at home plate on starting pitcher ’s grounder to second, capping a six-run fifth inning for the hosts.
“How cool (was) that?” , who collected three hits, said with a grin when asked about Hampson’s hustle. “That guy was booking it.”
The Rockies sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth after rolling through another nine men in the bottom of the first — but still needed two scoreless innings from reliever and a shut-down ninth from closer , who notched his 14th save, to seal the deal and restore order at Coors.
For now, at least.
“Itap a resilient club,” noted Rockies first baseman , who knocked in two runs and scored a pair as Colorado won its first home series since taking two of three against the Cubs back on June 10-12. “I think that guys compete on every single pitch. Hopefully, we’ll get rewarded for that.”
Hopefully. Sunday’s contest was the 21st of the Rockies’ 34 home games since May 1 in which at least one side has scored nine or more runs. And it was the eighth time over that span that both teams managed nine or more in the same contest.
The Rockies let a four-run first-inning lead evaporate and nearly let a 10-5 cushion go to waste before Oberg and Davis locked things down. It was the second one-run victory for Colorado in the series; the Rockies had snapped a three-game losing streak one-run contests on Friday.
“These are good wins,” manager Bud Black said.
The revolving door hit its fever pitch in the bottom of the fifth when the Rockies scored six runs in the frame on seven hits and an error. McMahon scored the hosts’ eighth run on ’ single to left, and Wolters made it nine when he broke hard on Hampson’s single to center and scored all the way from first when Reds center fielder Nick Senzel badly misjudged the ball. The Rockies reached double digits when Senzatela’s chopper took enough bounces for a speeding Hampson to take the extra base and beat the eventual throw home.
Senzatela (8-6) left the contest with one out in the fifth and a 10-7 lead — and a runner he was responsible for, Reds catcher Kyle Farmer, on first. Black turned to reliever Jesus Tinoco and Cincinnati pinch-hitter Jose Peraza launched the first pitch he saw into the bleachers in left for a two-run homer, pulling the visitors to within a run at 10-9. The shot ended Senzatela’s day with a line that saw him surrender eight earned runs on seven hits, walking two and fanning four, becoming the first Rockies hurler since Brian Bohanon in 1999 to pick up a victory while surrendering eight or more earned runs.
The Rockies had staked Senzatela to a 4-0 lead on five hits and a Cincinnati error in the bottom of the first. The party got started with an RBI single by and on McMahon’s ringing, two-run double off the right-field wall. Wolters knocked in his first run of the day when he plated McMahon on a single to left for the hosts’ fourth run of the frame.
On Deck
The Rockies play two against the Giants on Monday, making up a game that was postponed on May 8. Per MLB rules, each team is allowed to call up a 26th man for the doubleheader.
Game 1: Giants RHP Jeff Samardzija (6-7, 4.01) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (8-4, 4.45)
12:10 p.m. Monday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Game 2: Giants RHP Dereck Rodriguez (3-5, 5.27 ERA) at Rockies TBA
6:10 p.m. Monday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Marquez makes his first start of the second half as he looks to get on track at Coors Field, where he has a 5.73 ERA in 10 starts. He’ll pitch opposite Samardzija, who dominated Colorado with seven scoreless innings on April 11 but was blown up for five runs in five innings on June 26. For Game 2, San Francisco announced it plans to bring up Rodriguez from Triple-A Sacramento, a right-hander who made his MLB debut last May against Colorado. There hasn’t been any official word from Colorado, but the most likely candidate to get the ball is Triple-A Albuquerque right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-1, 6.00 ERA).
Trending: Daniel Murphy has been swinging a hot bat since the calendar turned to June, as the first baseman is hitting .356 in 32 games in that time frame with six of his nine homers and 22 RBIs.
At issue: Chad Bettis, like most of the Colorado bullpen, has been plagued by inconsistency. With a 5.94 overall ERA, since June 14 the converted right-handed reliever has surrendered multiple runs in four of his nine outings, including a four-run mess in 1⅔ frames against the Reds on Saturday.
— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post
Pitching probables
Tuesday: Giants TBA at Rockies RHP Peter Lambert (2-1, 6.67), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Wednesday: Giants RHP Shaun Anderson (3-2, 4.48) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (9-6, 3.83), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Off
