Rockies 17, Pirates 16: A Coors Classic

LOLLLLL WHAT

Dog. Lol. What a game.

The Rockies faced a nine-run deficit. They allowed 18 hits. Four of their five pitchers allowed runs.

And they won.

Fire on the mountain

I won’t lie to you, fans – this was about as brutal a start to a game as any I’ve ever seen.

Antonio Senzatela was completely overmatched from the jump. Pittsburgh jumped all over his pitches as they tallied hit after hit with little resistance from Senzatela. The Pirates opened the top of the first with six straight hits, and seven men reaching base, before Senza finally managed to record an out.

The largest of those hits came off the bat of Oneil Cruz, whose 18th home run of the season came in the form of a grand slam to put his team up 5-0.

Even after Senzatela departed, the Bucs would not be denied. With two on and two outs, veteran Andrew McCutchen welcomed rookie Carson Palmquist to the game by smashing a three-run shot, bringing Pittsburgh’s lead up to nine.

In total, the Pirates recorded 10 hits and scored nine runs in that first frame. It’s the first time in Colorado Rockies history that they’ve allowed 10 hits in the opening inning.

Not great.

He’s gone

The Rockies managed to scratch a run across, but they still faced a significant deficit. They managed to chip away in the bottom of the bottom of the third when exciting rookie slugger Warming Bernabel strode to the plate with two men on.

The strapping young prospect smashed Andrew Heaney’s 0-1 slider out into left field for the third home run of his burgeoning career and bringing the Rockies a bit of hope.

There was a ways to go, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

Cumberland Blues

The Rockies may have been able to claw their way back if their pitching could just keep the game close. Unfortunately, Senzatela wasn’t the only Rockies hurler that struggled on Friday night.

Palmquist got dinged up on that aforementioned three-run homer, while Angel Chivilli allowed four more runs in his two innings. Despite owning one of the least-effective offenses in the National League, the Pirates seemed like the Blake Street Bombers as they continued to pound Colorado’s pitching staff. If the Rox couldn’t put together a significant surge at the dish, they would find themselves on the losing end of this game.

New Speedway Boogie

And yet, in the darkness, a glimmer.

The bottom of the fifth inning saw the Rockies show some fire when Brenton Doyle walked and moved to second on Kyle Farmer singled. Three consecutive doubles by Mickey Moniak, Tyler Freeman, and birthday boy Ezequiel Tovar brought home four runs, making the score 15-10.

The Rockies bats were now heating up and the base runners speeding down the base lines. In a Coors game like this, the contest was far from over as it entered the late innings. Which team’s pitchers would survive the unrelenting assault?

I Know You Rider

One of the only pitchers to escape the game unscathed was Dugan Darnell. Making his MLB debut in the top of the eighth, Darnell started off by inducing a groundout from Bryan Reynolds before Nick Gonzales singled. With his family looking on and cheering, Darnell buckled down and got Oneil Cruz to hit into a 6-3 double play to end his first MLB inning.

And his second? How about a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, including his first career strikeout? That’ll play.

It’s always fun to see a debut, especially when a player’s loved ones get to be there in person to see them do their thing. Congratulations Dugan!

Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad

Speaking of career firsts, Yanquiel Fernández brought the Rockies just a bit closer when he homered for the first time in his young career in the bottom of the eighth inning. The 426-foot job brought home two runs, setting things at 16-12.

Dennis Santana entered for the Pirates and struck out Tovar (robbing him of a record fifth double – guess he’ll just settled for a tied Rockies record), but Hunter Goodman kept his team alive with his 20th home run of the season. Jordan Beck walked and scored on Bernabel’s subsequent triple, the first of his career. Bernabel didn’t wait long before coming home on Thairo Estrada’s RBI single, and all of a sudden the Rockies had the winning run at the plate.

Was…was this happening?

We Can Run

Yes, fans. Yes it was.

Brenton Doyle, unbelievably, clobbered Santana’s 0-1 slider into the left field stands for the come-from-behind, two-run, walk-off, winning home run. Yowza.

The Rockies erased a nine-run deficit, tying the record for the greatest they’ve overcome in their history. It marks Doyle’s first walkoff hit. And the winning pitcher? Why, none other than the debuting Dugan Darnell – one of Doyle’s best friends.

A game that seemed unwatchable at the start became historic at its end. Talk about the Grateful Dead, huh?

Up Next

Wow, that was a lot! Both teams are surely hoping tomorrow’s game will be a pitcher’s duel, as opposed to tonight’s crazy slugfest. To that end, Pittsburgh will send out ace Paul Skenes (6-8, 1.83 ERA), while Colorado looks to Austin Gomber (0-5, 6.28 ERA).

First pitch is at 1:10pm MST. See you then!