Rockies Win 11-7 Shootout in Texas
The Colorado Rockies (27-43) knocked 17 hits, a season high for a road game, en route to their second victory in the last 3 games, 11-7 over the Texas Rangers (44-28) yesterday afternoon in Arlington. Colorado led 11-1, before giving up six runs in the fifth. The rubber game of the series is tonight at 5:05 MT at Rangers Ballpark (TV: Root Sports).
Chris Nelson had three hits, including two doubles. Wil Nieves and Dexter Fowler (three hits) belted consecutive home runs in the fifth inning. By improving to 2-12 in Interleague Play, the Rockies avoided becoming the first team since the leagues began facing off in regular-season games in 1997 to finish with just one Interleague victory.
The Rockies gave starter Josh Outman an 11-1 lead through four innings. In an attempt to help starting pitchers become more aggressive and presumably more effective, this week the Rockies announced a four-man rotation with a 75-pitch limit. Outman had thrown 69 through four innings, with the only run a Nelson Cruz homer in the fourth, and he needed to complete the fifth for a win -- which would have been his first of the season.
Official: Saturday's Box Score.
Manager Jim Tracy told Outman the fifth was his. But he yielded a Brandon Snyder leadoff single and a one-out walk to Elvis Andrus before striking out Josh Hamilton for the second out.
Tracy let him have two more batters, but Adrian Beltre and Michael Young knocked RBI singles. Tracy could wait no longer. A frustrated Outman muttered "nothing that I'm going to repeat," handed the ball to Tracy and strode angrily off the mound, not out of disrespect for the manager but plain disgust at his performance.
"At the end of the day, the team won, that's the big picture," Outman said. "Besides one inning, we played a great game against the best team in baseball. I spent the last three years playing against this team [while with the Athletics] and I know what they're capable of. Obviously, it showed in the fifth inning.
The pitching staff's woes have overshadowed strong offensive efforts more times than the Rockies care to remember. Saturday's woes were certainly a juicy subject, but the victory put that one on the backburner.
The Rockies are 3-5 on a road trip that ends tonight, when they have a chance to win a road series for just the second time this season. Twice on the trip they've reached a season high for hits on the road. They knocked 16 in a 12-4, 10-inning victory at Detroit on June 15.
Tickets are available for the Rockies’ next home game, tomorrow night vs. the Washington Nationals, and can be purchased by calling (800) 388-ROCK, or click here.
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