Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 3: The best wyn we could ever ask for

Wynton Bernard’s debut didn’t disappoint as he helped the Rockies get the victory over the Snakes

Wynton Bernard’s first MLB game was one to remember. It had Senzatela bulldog his way through his start while the Rockies battled back from a 3-0 deficit. Bernard was a key contributor in what was an 5-3 emotional victory on Friday.

Senza’s so-so start

Antonio Senzatela has struggled against the Snakes in his career, and they gave him more trouble on Friday night. He faced traffic in most of his innings worked including the second inning, in which Arizona opened the scoring. They did so by way of a Christian Walker infield single followed by Daulton Varsho’s knock and Jake McCarthy’s walk. With the bases loaded and no outs, Senzatela was able to keep the damage to just one run and escape thanks to a timely double play.

Arizona would score two more in the fourth frame when Cooper Hummel took his at-bat with two men on and one out. His two-run double put the Rockies down 3-0, and with Zach Davies dealing it looked like this one may be over early. Senzatela did manage to finish strong – his final line was six innings pitched with three runs allowed on five hits and three walks – but the Rockies would need to get to Davies soon to stay in the game.

The comeback is on

Zach Davies entered the fourth inning having not allowed a base hit, much less a run. Colorado’s lineup was grounding out often, and Davies had barely allowed just two base runners (Ryan McMahon walked and Charlie Blackmon reached on an error, and neither had moved past first base). That changed when C.J. Cron worked a one-out walk and moved to second on McMahon’s infield single. Both would score when Elehuris Montero – who just keeps on raking this August – doubled to put the Rockies within a run at 3-2.

That would be all they’d get in the fourth, but the score wouldn’t stay there long. Brian Serven would take the first pitch of the next inning deep to left field and just over the wall for his fifth homer of the season, tying the game at 3.

With the game now tied heading into the latter third innings, both teams vied for control of the ballgame, but only one would be able to scratch across the go-ahead run…

It’s Wynton world – and we’re just living in it

Sam Hilliard stood on second base after a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh, and that brought up Wynton Bernard. He’d grounded out and struck out in his prior two at-bats, but he faced down reliever Chris Devenski determined to help push across the fourth Rockies run.

Hey, a knock’s a knock!

Bernard’s infield single, the first of his MLB career, put two runners on and set the Rockies up for another scoring opportunity. Initially called out, a replay review confirmed his status as safe at first, but he wouldn’t stay there for long as he added his first career stolen base to his resumé moments later. Hilliard would score Colorado’s fourth run on Charlie Blackmon’s RBI single, and Bernard would record his first major league run scored one batter later on José Iglesias’s sacrifice fly, putting the home team ahead 5-3.

The Coors Field faithful, all 32,055 of them, roared in thunderous applause as Bernard came home to score. His family cheered him on, as did we all.

Dinelson Lamet, Lucas Gilbreath, and Carlos Estévez combined to pitch three innings of scoreless, hitless, stressless relief to finish things off and end the special night the right way.

Sometimes, baseball is just the best.

Up Next

Game two, of course! Now that his MLB debut is behind him, we’ll see what Wynton Bernard has in store for us when these two teams lock horns again on Saturday. That contest will pit Arizona’s Zac Gallen (7-2, 3.12 ERA) against Colorado’s José Ureña (1-3, 4.63 ERA).

First pitch is at 6:10pm MDT. See you then!