The words Rockies and perfect seldom go together, especially lately. But Rockies closer John Axford has been perfect in save opportunities this year, until Wednesday.
After a delayed start due to a tornado warning accompanied by gusting winds and a downpour of rain, the Rockies jumped out early. After a solid two-run first inning, catcher Nick Hundley hit a solo home run in the second to give Colorado a 3-0 lead. The Diamondbacks responded with three runs in the fourth to tie things up.
Arizona went up two more runs in the fifth but the Rockies responded with four runs scored off of RBIs from Nolan Arenado, Wilin Rosario and Brandon Barnes. The score remained 7-5 Colorado until the ninth.
The Diamondbacks led off the ninth with a single from David Peralta, then Paul Goldschmidt walked. Yasmany Tomas had a groundball single, which scored Peralta. Jake Lamb followed a two-strike single to load the bases. Axford struck out Chris Owings but walked Jarrod Saltalamacchia to score the game-tying run. Aaron Hill hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to give Arizona the 8-7 lead and chase Axford from the game. LaTroy Hawkins recorded the final out in the inning.
“I’ve had a lot of good things that happened for me personally this season — a lot of luck,” Axford told The Denver Post. “Obviously that wasn’t there tonight.”
Brad Ziegler retired the Rockies in order in the bottom of the ninth, including striking out Troy Tulowitzki to end the game, to record his 11th save
Axford was previously 12-for-12 with a 1.31 ERA in save situations until Wednesday night. Through the 20 total innings he had thrown until that point, Axford had allowed only three runs scored.
June 24 and Arizona must have a vendetta against Axford. Last year on that very same date, pitching for Cleveland against Arizona was the last time he had blown a game save.
The Rockies are now 31-40 and the fourth team in the National League to reach 40 losses this season. The loss ended a three game winning streak. A victory would have meant the team’s first four-game winning streak since May 31.
Sabrina Naccarato, a Mile High Sports intern and MSU-Denver student, contributed to this report