DENVER — Ryan McMahon atoned for a costly error with three hits, Charlie Blackmon homered and tripled, and the Colorado Rockies beat Arizona 7-5 on Monday night to deny Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo his 500th career win.
Arizona has dropped five in a row since Lovullo got his 499th victory April 2 against the New York Yankees. Lovullo, in his eighth season, is the longest-serving manager in franchise history.
“These guys are fighting and doing all they can, and I’m proud of them,” Lovullo said. “Things aren’t going our way but they will; it’s going to turn around for us at some point. The storm is coming, the storm is hovering and when it comes it’s going to be fun for all of us to watch.”
Colorado starter Kyle Freeland grinded through five innings and Peter Lambert (2-0) pitched two innings of relief to earn the win. Jake Bird retired Eugenio Suarez with a bases-loaded fly to deep right to end the game and earn his first save after the Diamondbacks pushed across a run against Nick Mears.
“I know they’re going to attack me in that situation and I was ready to hit the ball,” Suarez said. “I’m not trying to be the hero, just to put the ball in play.”
Blackmon led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI single, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead. It was the first time in 17 games the Rockies scored first, dating back to last Sept. 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Diamondbacks scored four times in the fourth, two on a two-out error at third by McMahon. Freeland, whose deepest outing this season coming in was 3 1/3 innings, punctuated the end of the inning by fielding a comebacker and throwing a fastball to Elehuris Montero at first for the final out.
Freeland gave up a single in the fifth but got through the inning unscathed. He gave up four runs -- two earned -- and lowered his ERA from 27.00 to 16.03.
“That was big because it could have come unraveled pretty quickly with the momentum they had in the fourth inning,” Freeland said of getting through the fifth.
McMahon made up for the miscue by leading off the bottom of the inning with a single, one of four straight hits by Colorado that made it 4-3. Gallen got the next three batters to escape with the lead but Colorado denied him a win with a rally in the sixth off reliever Scott McGough (0-3).
Montero’s sacrifice fly tied it and Joe Mantiply came on after Blackmon’s walk loaded the bases. McMahon hit an infield single and Elias Diaz walked to bring home another run.
Blackmon’s home run in the eighth, his first of the season, extended the lead.
“He dug out a breaking ball and hit it into the seats. That was a good swing,” manager Bud Black said. “The triple against Gallen got us some momentum early.”
UP NEXT
The Diamondbacks will send RHP Merrill Kelly (1-0, 1.38 ERA) to the mound against Colorado RHP Cal Quantrill (0-1, 9.00) in a rematch of Arizona’s 7-3 win on March 29.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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