PHOENIX (Aug. 12) \u2014 Back-to-back wild pitches in the bottom of the seventh flipped a 4\u20133 Colorado Rockies<\/a> lead into a 5\u20134 Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> victory Monday night.<\/p>\n The two mishaps spoiled the first major league start of Bradley Blalock<\/a><\/strong>, whom the Rockies landed in the trade<\/a> that sent Nick Mears<\/a><\/strong> to the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> the day before the 2024 Trade Deadline. Blalock, who was called up from Double-A Hartford Monday night, had allowed three runs on six hits in 5 2\/3 innings, walking none and striking out four.<\/p>\n Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt<\/a><\/strong> lasted seven innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He walked none while striking out eleven.<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks took a 1\u20130 lead in the bottom of the second on back-to-back doubles by first baseman Josh Bell<\/a><\/strong> and left fielder Jake McCarthy<\/a><\/strong>. In the top of the third, the Rockies tied it on a double by right fielder Jake Cave<\/a><\/strong> and single by catcher Elias Diaz<\/a><\/strong>. It became a 3\u20131 Rockies lead in the top of the fourth, with the first being a manufactured run. Center fielder Brenton Doyle<\/a><\/strong> lined a single to left and stole second during the at-bat of third baseman Ryan McMahon<\/a><\/strong>, up next. McMahon advanced Doyle to third when he grounded to second. Second baseman Brendan Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> brought Doyle in with a sacrifice fly. A two-out rally brought in the third run. It came thanks to consecutive singles by first baseman Michael Toglia<\/a><\/strong>, Cave, and Diaz, with Toglia scoring on the Diaz single.<\/p>\n Rodgers robbed center fielder Alek Thomas<\/a><\/strong> of a base hit in the bottom of the fifth, diving to his right at full extension to glove a line drive out of the air. The following half-inning, Rodgers extended the Rockies lead to 4\u20131 with a towering home run to the picnic area overhang in left-center.<\/p>\n It became a 4\u20133 game in the bottom of the sixth after a one-out single by second baseman Kevin Newman<\/a><\/strong>, a two-out double by Bell, and a follow-up single by McCarthy. One inning later, Rockies reliever Anthony Molina<\/a><\/strong> ran into trouble after consecutive two-out singles by right fielder Corbin Carroll<\/a><\/strong> and Newman. In came Tyler Kinley<\/a><\/strong> to face designated hitter Joc Pederson<\/strong><\/a> with runners on the corners. A wild pitch on a stolen base attempt by Newman tied the game as Newman reached third. One pitch later, another wild pitch brought Newman across to give the Diamondbacks a 5\u20134 lead.<\/p>\n Ryan Thompson<\/a><\/strong> pitched a perfect top of the eighth for the Diamondbacks, as did Kinley in the bottom of the eighth for the Rockies. Toglia led off the ninth with a single to left off Justin Martinez<\/a><\/strong>, bringing up Cave, who was a home run shy of the cycle. But a liner to second turned into a 4\u20133 line-drive double play, bringing up Diaz with the bases empty. His grounder to short ended the game and gave the Diamondbacks the victory.<\/p>\n Aside from the diving catch by Rodgers, Doyle ran down two deep drives in the gap to rob extra-base hits. \u201cI was told before the game that this defense was really good,\u201d a grinning Blalock said. \u201cI was excited to be pitching for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Blalock missed a Quality Start by one batter, but it was not a bad outing by any means. The rookie, making his second big-league appearance and first major league start, left the game with the lead and put the Rockies in good position to win the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe liked what we saw,\u201d manager Bud Black<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 who met Blalock for the first time five hours before the first pitch \u2014 said. \u201cI liked the overall stuff. He threw strikes, got the ball in the strike zone. No walks, pitching into the sixth inning. It was a good starting debut. There are some things he can polish as he moves forward, but overall, I like the arm.\u201d<\/p>\n A half-inning after the Rockies fell behind, 1\u20130, Cave and Diaz combined to get the run back. \u201cThat boosted my confidence,\u201d Blalock said, \u201cbeing able to go out there knowing that the game was tied back up. It was good. I was wanting to keep putting up zeroes and letting the offense do their thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Back-to-back wild pitches by Kinley in the bottom of the seventh turned a one-run Rockies advantage into a one-run Diamondbacks lead. It came after Molina could not put the Diamondbacks away with two outs. Instead, he yielded singles to both Carroll and Newman. On the Newman single, Carroll reached third, setting the stage for the wild pitches to bring runs across. “Trying to execute a really nasty pitch a couple of times when ahead in the count to a really good hitter came back to bite us,” Black said.<\/p>\n Pfaadt (7\u20136) grabbed the win, with Molina (1\u20131) taking the loss in relief. Martinez notched his third save of the season.<\/p>\n The Rockies (44\u201376) and Diamondbacks (67\u201354) will play the second game of their three-game series Tuesday evening. It will be a battle of left-handers, Austin Gomber<\/a><\/strong> (3\u20138, 4.92 ERA) for the Rockies and Eduardo Rodriguez<\/a><\/strong> (1\u20130, 4.76 ERA) for the Diamondbacks. First pitch will be at 6:40 pm Arizona Time\/7:40 pm Mountain Daylight Time.<\/p>\nRockies \u2013 Diamondbacks Game Summary<\/h3>\n
Diamondbacks Chip Away, Take Lead<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rockies<\/h3>\n
Defense<\/h4>\n
Starting Pitching<\/h4>\n
Bounce-back Run<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rockies<\/h3>\n
Wild, Wild Seventh<\/h4>\n
Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n
Main Photo:<\/h4>\n