Not much has been going well for the Colorado Rockies in the run department lately, but on Friday night at Coors Field, they obliterated that slump in style with a 12-4 win over the Chicago White Sox.
It was also Bud Black’s 700th win as a Major League manager.
Third baseman Nolan Arenado bludgeoned the White Sox on offense from start to finish, hitting for a season-high five RBIs, thanks in part to a 450-foot monster of a bomb he hit just short of the Helton Burgers kiosk in left field. With the three hits he earned in five at-bats, he finally squeaked his batting average above .300, hitting the .302 mark.
Arenado got some help on the home run front from D.J. LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon, who each added one of their own for a combined three runs.
Nearly every starting man saw success at the plate on Friday night, save Tony Wolters and Mark Reynolds, as the Rockies saw 17 hits on their way to 12 runs.
The Rockies (51-38), rallying behind starting pitcher German Marquez, started off the night with three base hits from Arenado, Gerardo Parra and Trevor Story in the first inning, which was good for four runs. But they didn’t stop there.
Three home runs and a base hit later, the Rockies hit double-digits in the bottom of the sixth as they took the 10-1 lead, but the White Sox (37-48) weren’t ready to give up yet. The next inning later, a Tim Anderson homer eased their pain ever so slightly to make it 10-3.
Despite giving up three earned runs off nine hits, Marquez set the Rockies up nicely for success with five strikeouts and no walks in seven full innings. Thanks to his performance and the offensive stylings of he and his teammates, the Rockies cruised to the easy victory, starting off their final series before the All-Star break in one of the best fashions possible.
