This was a different kind of walk-off win. You might even call it bizarre.
The Rockies beat the Brewers 7-3 Tuesday night by scoring four runs in the 10th inning. The Rockies had just one hit in the inning — a perfect bunt single by rookie Brenton Doyle to load the bases — and cashed in on four Milwaukee walks.
Andrew Chaffin walked two and forced in a run with a walk. Abner Uribe walked two and forced in two more runs via walks. The fans at American Family Field were not pleased.
For the record, this is how it went down:
• Chafin walked Michael Toglia to start the 10th and Doyle loaded the bases with a bunt single down the third base line. Harold Castro, who began the inning as the ghost runner on second, scored the go-ahead run when Chafin walked Cole Tucker on four pitches. It was Tucker’s first big-league at-bat since May 10, 2022, when he played for the Pirates.
• Uribe came on to relieve Chafin and immediately walked Ezequiel Tovar on three pitches — Uribe started the at-bat with a pitch-clock violation — to score another run. Uribe then walked Ryan McMahon on four pitches as the Rockies increased their lead to 6-3.
Tucker scored Colorado’s final run on Nolan Jones’ sacrifice fly.
According to AT&T SportsNet, the Rockies became the first team since 1988 (when all pitches were first tracked by Major League Baseball) to draw three consecutive bases-loaded walks without a single strike being thrown in any of the at-bats.
“Late, things went our way, with a little bit of Brewers’ pitcher wildness,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Milwaukee. “We did what we needed to do from our end.
“A couple of keys, for me, in the 10th, were Toglia’s walk and the key play for me was Doyle’s perfect bunt to load the bases.”
Rockies closer Justin Lawrence retired the Brewers in order in the bottom of the 10th to wrap up the victory. Matt Koch earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. It was his first win since 2018.
In total, Milwaukee’s pitchers walked eight Tuesday night. The Rockies walked zero. Bizarre.
Earlier, the night belonged to Jones, the rookie left fielder who hit two home runs and drove in three runs.
Say this for Jones: he’s got a short memory. He was in a funk but ended up with the first multi-homer game of his career.
The rookie outfielder entered the night having struck out in eight of his last nine at-bats, leaving his strikeout rate at 33.3%, the sixth-highest in the National League (minimum 200 plate appearances).
“There are good days and there are bad days, that’s part of baseball,” Jones told AT&T SportsNet. “I have holes, obviously, in my swing, and my strikeouts are a little high, so I’m always trying to get better. I felt comfortable tonight and I saw the ball well.”
Jones got the Rockies on the board in the fourth with a two-out homer to left-center off lefty Wade Miley’s 3-2 cutter. He put the Rockies ahead, 3-2, in the seventh with a screaming, low-drive homer down the right-field line. Jones’ homer came on the heels of Elias Diaz’s leadoff homer.
Colorado starter Kyle Freeland, who has not recorded a win since May 14, pitched well enough to snap that slump, going six innings, allowing eight hits, striking out two, and walking none. Two home runs, however, hurt him, and he’s now served up 22 homers in 22 starts.
Freeland muffled the Brewers’ bats for the first three innings before designated hitter William Contreras led off the fourth with a homer to left. Milwaukee scratched out another run in the sixth to take a 2-1 lead on Mark Canha’s two-out double to score Brian Anderson, who led off with a single up the middle.
Milwaukee took a 3-2 lead in the seventh on a home run by Andruw Monasterio that seemed to perplex Freeland. The lefty delivered a 1-1 slider that seemed to find its spot but Monasterio lofted the ball 374 feet to left, just clearing the fence. The ball came off his bat at 96.9 mph, hardly a rocket, but it tied the game.
Miley didn’t dominate the Rockies in the same way that Freddie Peralta did on Monday night, but he limited Colorado to one run on two hits over six innings.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Rockies RHP Chris Flexen (1-5, 7.82 ERA) at Brewers RHP Adrian Houser (4-3, 4.19)
12:10 p.m. Wednesday, American Family Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Flexen is coming off a rebound performance. His debut with Colorado was a disaster but he picked up the win last Friday at St. Louis in his second Rockies start. He allowed three runs on 10 hits over five innings. The right-hander is 0-2 with an 8.68 ERA in three career appearances (one start) vs. the Brewers. Houser is making his 16th appearance and 14th start of the season. He’s fresh off a strong start vs. the Pirates, allowing just one run on four hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked two. Milwaukee is 8-5 in his starts this season. Houser is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against the Rockies. He beat the Rockies on Sept. 5 of last season at Coors Field, allowing three runs on two hits over five innings.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Rockies LHP Ty Blach (1-1, 4.85) at Dodgers TBA, 8:10 p.m., ATTRM
Friday: Rockies RHP Peter Lambert (2-3, 5.57) at Dodgers RHP Tony Gonsolin (7-4, 4.42), 8:10 p.m., ATTRM
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