The Colorado Rockies stopped their three-game losing skid and reclaimed the top spot in the National League West with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Friday. It was a much-needed pitching performance for Colorado after surrendering 42 runs over their previous three games.
Rookie Kyle Freeland put together another outstanding start, allowing just one run over six innings on six hits. He struck out two and walked two to earn his third victory of the year. Chris Rusin rebounded from a rocky performance last time out to retire the only two batters he faced. Adam Ottavino battled control issues, but pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to earn his 10th save of the year. Greg Holland was perfect, retiring all three batters he faced, and stayed perfect, with his 10th save in as many tries.
On offense, Carlos Gonzalez continued to swing the bat better. The veteran right fielder drove in a run in the first to give Freeland a lead before he ever took the mound. Gonzalez had two hits on the night. Trevor Story hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning. Charlie Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI base hit in the seventh inning.
Tyler Anderson will try to regain last year’s form on Saturday. So far in 2017, Anderson is 1-3 with a 7.11 ERA. Last year he led Colorado’s starters with a 3.54 ERA. Zack Greinke (2-2, 2.93) is on the mound for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. MDT.
