{"id":9383,"date":"2024-02-23T23:15:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T07:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=9383"},"modified":"2024-02-23T23:15:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-24T07:15:06","slug":"rockies-diamondbacks-20240223","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks to Open 2024 Cactus League Play for Both Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 0<\/h2>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 23) \u2014 Seven Colorado Rockies<\/a> pitchers combined to strike out 16, leading their team to a 3\u20130 victory over the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> Friday afternoon in Cactus League play. The Rockies limited the Diamondbacks to five hits and three walks while striking out seven.<\/p>\n

Offensively, designated hitter Elehuris Montero<\/a><\/strong> blasted a 449-foot home run up the berm in left field, while center fielder Brenton Doyle<\/a><\/strong> went 2-for-2 with a double. Shortstop Alan Trejo<\/a><\/strong>, who went 1-for-2, scored the second Rockies run on a single to right by catcher Drew Romo<\/a><\/strong>. The third run came after a seventh-inning walk by first baseman Grant Lavigne<\/a><\/strong>, who scored on a ground-ball double down the left-field line by right fielder Jordan Beck<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Rockies starting pitcher Carson Palmquist<\/a><\/strong>, 23, tossed two innings. He allowed one hit while walking one and striking out four. This was Palmquist\u2019s first career spring training start. When manager Bud Black<\/a><\/strong> told him he was starting, Palmquist scarcely believed it at first. \u201cIt was a shock to me,\u201d Palmquist said. \u201cI had no idea, but it was awesome. I told him, \u2018Let\u2019s do it\u2019 and \u2018I’m ready to go.\u2019\u201d The lone hit allowed by Palmquist came on the first pitch of the game, a single by 2023 NLCS MVP Ketel Marte<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What Went Right for the Rockies<\/h3>\n

Strikeouts<\/h4>\n

Rockies pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts. Palmquist had four; Jeff Criswell<\/a><\/strong> and Matt Koch<\/a><\/strong> each had three; and Chance Adams<\/a><\/strong>, Evan Justice<\/a><\/strong>, and Gavin Hollowell<\/a><\/strong> each had two.<\/p>\n

Limited Walks<\/h4>\n

Of the 35 hitters Rockies pitchers faced, only three walked. Palmquist had one walk, and Criswell had two.<\/p>\n

Stranding Runners<\/h4>\n

Rockies pitchers stranded eight Diamondbacks runners, with three being left in scoring position. Only one Diamondback even reached third base.<\/p>\n

Putting the Ball in Play<\/h4>\n

Rockies hitters combined for seven strikeouts in 32 plate appearances. No one on the team struck out more than once.<\/p>\n

What Went Right for the Diamondbacks<\/h3>\n

Second baseman Blaze Alexander<\/a><\/strong> went 2-for-2 with a double and was the lone Diamondback to reach third base.<\/p>\n

Starting pitcher Tommy Henry<\/a><\/strong> tossed two scoreless innings. He limited the Rockies to one hit while walking none and striking out three.<\/p>\n

The seven Diamondbacks pitchers limited the Rockies to three walks.<\/p>\n

Quotes<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt was a good swing. I thought he just missed that first one, got beat a little bit on the on the first at-bat. But he got all of that second one. That was a bomb. It was good to see.\u201d \u2014 Bud Black on Elehuris Montero\u2019s home run<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I did pretty well. Had to settle in there after the first batter. Threw a few balls. But I felt like I battled and showed them what I can do, and I\u2019ll build up from there.\u201d \u2014 Carson Palmquist on his start<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different look. Little lower arm slot, long stride. He\u2019s got some deception to the breaking ball. I liked the fact that he was around the plate. Not a lot of big misses. \u2026 Good first step for him.\u201d \u2014 Black on Palmquist\u2019s performance<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning, I was extremely nervous. (Asked) all the older guys what they do if they\u2019re really nervous before games and (tried) to embrace all the nerves, go out there and have fun. But I definitely couldn\u2019t embrace all of them. I was still nervous.\u201d \u2014 Palmquist on whether he had butterflies before the game<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Once the game starts, it\u2019s time to go. Nerves go away. It\u2019s time to compete and do what I can do.\u201d \u2014 Palmquist on whether he was able to channel the nerves once he took the mound<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing 23 years old, looking up to all those guys for the past few years when I was in college or whatnot\u2026. It was really cool to face them. But maybe I\u2019ll get his number next time.\u201d \u2014 Palmquist on the first batter he faced being Ketel Marte<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n

The Rockies will face the Diamondbacks again Saturday, with the Rockies fielding a split-squad group. Rockies right-hander Noah Davis<\/a><\/strong> will face Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson<\/a><\/strong>. First pitch will be at 1:10 pm Mountain Time.<\/p>\n

The other half of the Rockies will face the Oakland Athletics<\/a> at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. Rockies right-hander Peter Lambert<\/a><\/strong> will square off against Athletics right-hander Joe Boyle<\/a><\/strong>. First pitch will be at 1:05 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 0 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 23) \u2014 Seven Colorado Rockies pitchers combined to strike out 16, leading their team to a 3\u20130 victory over the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks Friday afternoon in Cactus League play. The Rockies limited the Diamondbacks to five hits and three walks while striking out seven. Offensively, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,40],"tags":[1483,1481,1480,705,1269,1485,1486,1487],"class_list":["post-9383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamondbacks","category-rockies","tag-2024-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-2024-cactus-league","tag-2024-colorado-rockies","tag-alan-trejo","tag-brenton-doyle","tag-carson-palmquist","tag-elehuris-montero","tag-jordan-beck","pmpro-has-access","eq-blocks"],"yoast_head":"\nRockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Major League Baseball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-1024x771.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"771\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@evan_m_thompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SportRelay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/176e41d7fa14354827c1f8f9b78d6057\"},\"headline\":\"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks to Open 2024 Cactus League Play for Both Teams\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\"},\"wordCount\":733,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2024 Arizona Diamondbacks\",\"2024 Cactus League\",\"2024 Colorado Rockies\",\"Alan Trejo\",\"Brenton Doyle\",\"Carson Palmquist\",\"Elehuris Montero\",\"Jordan Beck\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arizona Diamondbacks\",\"Colorado Rockies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\",\"name\":\"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1928,\"caption\":\"SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 23) \u2014 Tommy Henry of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers a pitch to Colorado Rockies designated Elehuris Montero as Brenton Doyle runs from first in the first inning of the Cactus League opener for both teams. (Photo by Evan Thompson\/Sport Relay)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"MLB\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks to Open 2024 Cactus League Play for Both Teams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/\",\"name\":\"Major League Baseball - Sport Relay\",\"description\":\"Honest \u2022 Unbiased \u2022 Apolitical\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"SportRelay MLB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sport Relay - Your Connection to the Game!\",\"alternateName\":\"SportRelay.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/sr.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/sr.png\",\"width\":155,\"height\":155,\"caption\":\"Sport Relay - Your Connection to the Game!\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/SportRelay\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/sportrelay\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/176e41d7fa14354827c1f8f9b78d6057\",\"name\":\"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief\"},\"description\":\"Evan is the owner and sole contributor of Thompson Talks, a website discussing the Big Four North American Pro Sports as well as soccer. He covered the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2023, the Colorado Rockies in 2024, and has covered the Athletics since Spring Training 2025. He also is our National Writer. His first and biggest love is baseball. Evan lives in Gilbert, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. He is a member of the Hemond Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. His second book, Volume II of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs (1977\u20131984) came out September 2024. Order Evan's books here. Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_m_thompson Support Evan on Patreon: https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/user?u=81411994\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/evan_m_thompson\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@evanthompson8435\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/author\/evan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener","description":"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener","og_description":"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/","og_site_name":"Major League Baseball","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/","article_published_time":"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":771,"url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-1024x771.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@evan_m_thompson","twitter_site":"@SportRelay","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/"},"author":{"name":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/176e41d7fa14354827c1f8f9b78d6057"},"headline":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks to Open 2024 Cactus League Play for Both Teams","datePublished":"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/"},"wordCount":733,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg","keywords":["2024 Arizona Diamondbacks","2024 Cactus League","2024 Colorado Rockies","Alan Trejo","Brenton Doyle","Carson Palmquist","Elehuris Montero","Jordan Beck"],"articleSection":["Arizona Diamondbacks","Colorado Rockies"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/","name":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks in Cactus League Opener","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-24T07:15:06+00:00","description":"The Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3\u20130, in Cactus League play. Elehuris Montero homered for the Rockies.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Rockies-Diamondbacks-20240223-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1928,"caption":"SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 23) \u2014 Tommy Henry of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers a pitch to Colorado Rockies designated Elehuris Montero as Brenton Doyle runs from first in the first inning of the Cactus League opener for both teams. (Photo by Evan Thompson\/Sport Relay)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2024\/02\/23\/rockies-diamondbacks-20240223\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"MLB","item":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rockies Blank Diamondbacks to Open 2024 Cactus League Play for Both Teams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/","name":"Major League Baseball - Sport Relay","description":"Honest \u2022 Unbiased \u2022 Apolitical","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization"},"alternateName":"SportRelay MLB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#organization","name":"Sport Relay - Your Connection to the Game!","alternateName":"SportRelay.com","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/sr.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/sr.png","width":155,"height":155,"caption":"Sport Relay - Your Connection to the Game!"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100088190202878","https:\/\/x.com\/SportRelay","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/sportrelay"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/176e41d7fa14354827c1f8f9b78d6057","name":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/cropped-Evan-on-field-120x120.jpg","caption":"Evan M. Thompson, Editor-in-chief"},"description":"Evan is the owner and sole contributor of Thompson Talks, a website discussing the Big Four North American Pro Sports as well as soccer. He covered the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2023, the Colorado Rockies in 2024, and has covered the Athletics since Spring Training 2025. He also is our National Writer. His first and biggest love is baseball. Evan lives in Gilbert, Arizona and loves history, especially of sports. He is a member of the Hemond Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. His second book, Volume II of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs (1977\u20131984) came out September 2024. Order Evan's books here. Follow Evan on Twitter: @evan_m_thompson Support Evan on Patreon: https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/user?u=81411994","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thompsontalks\/","https:\/\/x.com\/evan_m_thompson","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@evanthompson8435"],"url":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/author\/evan\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9383"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9389,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9383\/revisions\/9389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}