The Colorado Rockies entered the eighth inning on Sunday at Coors Field with the same feeling they had on Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rockies had turned over a lead to the bullpen, but a few extra runs sure would make things more comfortable. And just as they did on Friday, the Colorado bats woke up in the eighth to give the ‘pen some breathing room. Colorado rallied for four runs in the eighth inning en route to an 8-4 victory to take two of three games from the Cardinals.
Eight Rockies came to the plate in the eighth; four would find their way back. Mark Reynolds, Carlos Gonzalez and Tony Wolters (two) each had RBIs in the inning. The big bat of the day belonged to Gerardo Parra, however. Parra got the start in right field in place of Gonzalez and racked up three hits, three runs and three RBIs with the opportunity. He scored Colorado’s first run in the second inning on an Alexi Amarista groundout. The big blow came in the fourth. With two on and no outs, Parra belted a Lance Lynn fastball into the right field bleachers to give Colorado a four-run lead at the time. He scored in the eighth along with Ian Desmond in the eighth to cap the scoring.
German Marquez worked around traffic all afternoon, allowing a pair of solo home runs in the sixth inning that ultimately chased him from the game. Over 5.2 innings he allowed eight hits and a walk, striking out five. Solo shots were the story of the day for the St. Louis offense. All four of their runs came on solo home runs. Chris Rusin surrendered one to Tommy Pham in the seventh, while Greg Holland surrendered one of the pinch hit variety to Paul DeJong in the ninth. Pham had two home runs and was 5-for-11 in the series. Adam Ottavino earned his 15th hold for Colorado working four outs across the seventh and eighth for Rockies manager Bud Black.
Colorado has now won or tied its last nine consecutive series, moving to 33-19 on the season. Marquez improved to 4-2 with the win. The Rockies turn around for another afternoon affair on Monday when they welcome the Seattle Mariners on Memorial Day. It is the first game of four against Seattle in a home-and-home series. Tyler Chatwood (4-6, 4.50) will try and build on a successful outing against Philadelphia in which he allowed no runs over seven innings and struck out eight. Seattle will send rookie Sam Gaviglio (0-1, 1.38) to the mound.