Rockies 6, White Sox 5: A Wednesday walk-off win!

Díaz hits a single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th for a needed victory

Elias Díaz ended Wednesday’s game wearing a bubblegum container crown and a getting Powerade dunk. It was gorgeous.

After a roller-coaster game where the White Sox had all the momentum, Díaz hit a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth for the Rockies second walk-off win of the season. It was the fourth of Díaz’s career and third as a Rockie. The clutch hit came after the bullpen blew a 3-2 lead and after Chicago’s own bullpen collapse. Kendall Graveman issued three straight walks — to Brendan Rodgers, José Iglesias, and Ryan McMahon — before Díaz swung at the first pitch and sent a single past a diving Josh Harrison at second base.

Díaz not only saved the day at the plate, but did so behind the plate as well. He definitely earned the MVP chain.

Unlucky Senza solid, bullpen blows it

Antonio Senzatela has his best outing of the year, going 6 ²⁄₃ innings, which is a season-best. Senzatela had four three-up-three-down innings and left the game with 91 pitches.

When he left the game, he’d only given up two runs on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He left the game in the seventh inning with two outs when a sharp grounder by Garcia hit him in the shin. He tried to take some pitches, but didn’t seem comfortable and had to exit the game. In the post-game press conference, Bud Black said that he pulled Senzatela because the pain was bad and didn’t go away after a few minutes. In the locker room, Senzatela said his leg still hurt, but he wasn’t concerned about it in the long term. Unfortunately, Garica came around to score after Lucas Gilbreath game up two straight hits and lost the lead for the Rockies. After walking Yoan Moncada to load the bases, Gilbreath was pulled by Bud Black, who put in Carlos Estévez. AJ Pollock hit a two-run single on Estévez’s first pitch, giving Chicago a 5-3 lead and obliterating Senza’s great start. On the bright side, Alex Colomé and Robert Stephenson each threw a scoreless inning in the eighth and ninth to give the Rockies a chance to come back.

Starting with a bang

Charlie Blackmon got Nazty right off the bat, hammering Lucas Giolito’s fifth pitch 424 feet into the right field stands. Blackmon’s 16th homer of the season extended his home hitting streak to 20 games, put the Rockies up 1-0, and started a rally.

Both back from foot injuries, Kris Bryant and Iglesias (even though Bryant came back on Tuesday) made big contributions. Bryant hit a double and scored on a C.J. Cron RBI single and then Iglesias hit an RBI double to plate Cron. After scoring only three runs in their previous two games, the Rockies had a 3-0 lead after one inning.

Senza saved by Díaz

Senza got into his worst jam in the fifth inning. After getting Josh Harrison to fly out, it seemed like he was headed toward two outs after fooling Leury Garcia on a curveball that was low and outside; however, it was so low that it hit the plate and bounced away from Díaz, allowing Garcia to reach first base. Seby Zavala followed with a single and then Tim Anderson hit a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners with two outs. With the Rockies up 3-2, Yoan Moncada then drew a walk, which would have loaded the bases, but, thanks to Díaz’s quick pop and alertness, it didn’t. As soon as he caught ball four, he fired the ball down the third base where McMahon tagged out Garcia, who was too slow to get back to the bag before the throw.

Wasted opportunities

After squandering the lead, the Rockies did get one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Rodgers hit a one-out double.

Rodgers came around to score on a single from Iglesias for his second RBI of the game.

But Iglesias was left on base. In the eighth, Yonathan Daza hit a leadoff double, but wasn’t helped out by the best part of the lineup, Blackmon stuck out, Hampson was hit by a pitch, Bryant struck out, and Cron popped out in foul territory to end the threat. Before Díaz’s hit, the Rockies were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.

The right kind of double plays

After hitting into four double plays on Tuesday night, the Rockies turned three of their own and only hit into one on Wednesday. All three came while Senzatela was on the mound. The first came in the first inning after Senzatela surrendered a leadoff single, but was erased when AJ Pollock grounded into a double play. Harrison led off the third with a single, but also returned to the dugout after Leury Garcia grounded into a double play. In the sixth inning, José Abreu hit a one-out double and represented the tying run. He was then eliminated when Yasmani Grandal hit a line drive to Rodgers, who then quickly flipped the ball to Iglesias, who doubled up Abreu.

Don’t walk this way

Lucas Giolito issued four walks in five innings, walking McMahon twice, and Díaz and Rodgers once each. The Rockies didn’t make him pay for any of the free passes. One of McMahon’s walks came in the first, but after all three runs had already scored. The worst came in the fourth when McMahon and Díaz drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Daza followed with a fielder’s choice that resulted in having Rockies runners on the corners, but then Blackmon hit into a double play to end the inning.

Up next

The Rockies and White Sox are done with the Coors Field part of their season and the two teams won’t face each other again until Sept. 13-14 in Chicago. The Rockies will now return to NL West action and start a 12-game stretch against the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks. Up first, the Rockies will host Los Angeles in a four-game set starting Thursday when former Rockie Tyler Anderson will go head-to-head against José Ureña at 6:40 p.m.