At long last, Lodo Magic returned.
The Rockies scored five runs in the ninth on a three-run home run by Hunter Goodman and a walk-off, two-run homer by Ezequiel Tovar to shock the Giants in an electrifying 8-6 win at Coors Field. Both home runs came off Giants right-hander Caleb Kilian.
It was Colorado’s first walk-off win of the season. And it was a banner night for Tovar, who hit the first walk-off home run of his career and notched his fourth career walk-off hit overall. The shortstop also rocketed a 441-foot, two-run home run off Giants right-hander Keaton Winn in the eighth to cut San Francisco’s lead to 4-3. Tovar also stole home in the fourth inning.
“I was happy,” Tovar said, using Edwin Perez as his interpreter. “There is no other feeling you can feel when you have that kind of game. Itap good to recognize the work the guys did to win that game.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tovar became the first player since the Rangers’ Mitch Moreland on Oct. 1, 2010, vs. the Angels to hit two home runs and steal home in the same game. It was only the third time it happened since 1988, when Minnesota’s Dan Gladden pulled it off on April 8, vs. Toronto.
“That was unbelievable,” manager Warren Schaeffer said of Tovar’s walk-off homer. “I’m just so happy for him, the work he’s been putting in, the walks he’s been taking. Just the way his approach is getting better and better every day. And then to do that tonight, it was huge.”
The eighth-inning bomb was huge, too.
“Yeah, to bring us closer,” Schaeffer said. “Because anything can happen here in Coors Field. I mean, anywhere, but specifically here, if you stay close and get close, anything can happen in the ninth inning.”
Earlier in the game, there was nothing but frustration for Colorado. In the fifth inning, Troy Johnston slammed his batting helmet to the ground in frustration. With baserunners on second and third and two outs, Johnston ripped the ball to right field and appeared to have a two-run, extra-base hit. But somehow, someway, Jung Hoo Lee made a sliding catch, snaring the baseball as he slid on his backside.
The Rockies were 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position until Goodman hit his three-run homer in the ninth — a homer that was reviewed but was ruled fair after it flew just inside the left-field foul pole.
“I was just kind of waiting for the umpire to call it because I didn’t know what they were going to call,” said Goodman, whose 13 homers lead the team. “I’m glad it didn’t get overturned because I was pretty gassed in the dugout after screaming around the bases and the (celebrating) in the dugout.”
Before Friday’s game, Schaeffer said that Goodman’s high strikeout rate (34.9%) was partly because the catcher has been putting too much pressure on himself to carry a team that has slumped to a 7-19 record in May.
“That was awesome, man,” Schaeffer said. ” ‘Goody’ always wants to do that. It’s a lot harder to do than you think, but it was huge tonight from him.”
The Giants seemed to have put the game away in the ninth, scoring two runs off late-game reliever Juan Mejia. Rafael Devers hit an RBI triple off the center-field wall, and Matt Chapman drove in Devers with a single.
Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen’s line was not great — three runs allowed on five hits over 3 2/3 innings — but he wasn’t hit quite as hard as in his previous two starts.
Walks continue to hurt the right-hander. In San Francisco’s two-run fourth inning, Lorenezen issued a leadoff walk to Devers and also a walk to Bryce Eldridge. Add in singles by Jung Hoo Lee, a sacrifice fly by Daniel Susac, and an RBI single by Harrison Bader, and the Giants turned a tie ballgame into a 3-1 lead.
