Raimel Tapia committed Coors Field robbery and saved the day for the Rockies.
And at the end of a wild Saturday afternoon of baseball, Colorado walked off the field with a 7-6 win over fading Arizona, which lost its seventh consecutive game. The Rockies have won two straight.
“There really wasn’t much thought process, it was reaction,” said Tapia, who also hit 2-for-4 and drove in a run. “I knew I had a chance of catching it and I didn’t think twice. I was just lucky enough to catch it.”
With two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Tapia sprinted in on pinch hitter Andrew Young’s shallow flyball to left field. Tapia left his feet, did a faceplant and made a sensational grab. He got up off the ground with a huge smile on his face.
When the ball came off Young’s bat, it looked destined to be the kind of bloop hit that’s made Coors Field infamous.
“When I turned around and saw that Tapia was playing deep, I thought, ‘Oh, God, blooper!’ ” said reliever Carlos Estevez, who celebrated on the mound when the catch was made. “That was an amazing play, right in the spot that we needed it.”
Tapia’s catch halted the Diamondbacks’ three-run rally and bailed out relievers Yency Almonte (three runs, three hits, one walk and no outs recorded) and Mychal Givens (one hit, two walks in two-thirds of an inning).
“We had a hard a time getting through the seventh, having to use three pitchers, but what a play by Tapia,” manager Bud Black said. “From my perspective, I thought the ball was going to fall. We see a lot of those balls fall in this ballpark.
“But what a great jump by ‘Tap.’ And one of the better plays I’ve seen from him, considering the circumstances. It was a do-or-die situation with the bases loaded and he gained a ton of ground at the end.”
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo credited Tapia with a game-saver.
“He made a great play at a great moment,” Lovullo said. “That’s what good baseball players do. You’ve got to tip your hat to him. It’s the nature of the game sometimes.”
Estevez, back from the injured list, gets an assist in the rescue department. He pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and handed the ball off to closer Daniel Bard, who notched his fifth save, despite giving up a leadoff double to David Peralta in the ninth.
“He got the velocity back to where it was, 95, 96, 97, with a good, tight slider,” Black said of Estevez’s performance.
The game began as a pitcher’s duel between Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela and D-Backs’ lefty Madison Bumgarner, but that duel deteriorated.
Senzatela was rolling until the sixth when Arizona drove him out of the game with three straight hits. Eduardo Escobar led off with a check-swing single to left, Peralta ripped a solid single to left and Josh Reddick scored Escobar with a double off the wall in right-center, cutting Colorado’s lead to 3-1.
Enter right-hander Tyler Kinley. He pitched well enough, but first baseman C.J. Cron’s error and a sacrifice fly by Josh VanMeter tied the game at 3-all.
Over his five-plus innings, Senzatela was charged with three runs (two earned) on seven hits. He struck out three and walked one.
“Senza’s ball-strike ratio wasn’t great, but he made some key pitches and some key outs when he needed to,” Black said.
Bumgarner stepped onto the mound at Coors Field as one of baseball’s hottest pitchers. Over his previous six starts, he was 4-1 with a 1.32 ERA and had held opponents to a .122 average. But the Rockies beat him like a piñata: seven runs (five earned) on eight hits.
Colorado’s four-run sixth gave it a 7-3 lead and included a two-run homer by Charlie Blackmon, as well as doubles by Trevor Story, C.J. Cron and Josh Fuentes.
On Deck
Diamondbacks RHP Taylor Widener (1-0, 2.82 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (4-4, 3.48)
1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gray has been terrific at Coors Field, going 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA, the third-lowest home ERA in the majors among starters. He’s not been good on the road (0-3, 6.89) and was roughed up in San Diego in his last start, allowing seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Gray is 5-6 with a 5.05 ERA in 14 career starts vs. the D-Backs. Widener, 26, is coming back from a groin strain that has sidelined him since April 22. The right-hander made a rehab start for Triple-A Reno on Tuesday and threw 74 pitches across 4 2/3 innings. In his four starts before his injury, Widener struck out 18 and walked only six. He debuted last year, pitching 12 games in relief for the Diamondbacks, posting a 4.50 ERA, striking out 22 and walking 12. He faced the Rockies three times (3 1/3 innings), going 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA.
Trending: Over their last 11 home games, Colorado starters have posted a 2.64 ERA.
At issue: Right-handed reliever Yency Almonte, struggling with his command, gave up three runs on three hits and a walk without getting an out in the seventh inning Saturday. His ERA rose to 12.86.
Pitching Probables
ѴDzԻ岹:Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (2-4, 4.96) at Mets LHP David Peterson (1-3, 4.97), 5:10 p.m., ATTRM
Tuesday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-3, 4.33 in 2020) at Mets TBD, 5:10 p.m., ATTRM
Wednesday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (3-4, 2.82) at Mets RHP Marcus Stroman (3-4, 2.82), 5:10 p.m., ATTRM
