Colorado Rockies: 5 Things About Sunday’s Walk-Off Win

The Colorado Rockies hadn’t had a walk-off win all season. In one swing of the bat, Mark Reynolds changed that on Sunday afternoon.

Reynolds blasted a 2-1 pitch from Arizona reliever Silvino Bracho into the center field seats for a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth as the Rockies split a four-game series with the Diamondbacks thanks to a 9-7 decision in front of 32,435 fans at sunny and warm Coors Field.

Estimated at 464 feet, it was Reynolds’ first walkoff homer of his career.

“I knew he didn’t walk me and put a guy in scoring position, so I knew he was going to try to throw a strike,” Reynolds said. “I hit it high. I thought he was either going to catch it or it was going to go out, one of the two. I thought I just as well enjoy it if it does go out.”

With a combined 16 runs and 26 hits, there was plenty to talk about with Sunday’s game … but I’ll boil it down for you. Aside from Reynolds’ heroics, here are four other things to know about the contest.

This just in … CarGo can hit the ball far and long

When the Rockies needed an injection of energy earlier in the game, Carlos Gonzalez gave it to them in a big way.

Moved down to fifth in the lineup after Colorado manager Walt Weiss thought it would be best to have right-handed Trevor Story as the cleanup hitter against southpaw Patrick Corbin, CarGo showed he is no slouch against lefties, turning on Corbin’s first pitch of the at-bat and sending it 455 feet into the second deck.

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Not only was it a big homer to jumpstart Colorado’s offense and give the Rockies a short-lived 6-5 lead, it was also big for CarGo in terms of history. The blast was his 188th Colorado homer, tying him with Troy Tulowitzki on the Rockies’ all-time chart. It was also his fifth career grand slam and the second of the season for Colorado.

Charlie Blackmon goes deep again

451 feet … that’s how far Chuck Nazty’s third-inning solo shot traveled, bouncing off seats in the second deck just above the right field scoreboard. Blackmon turned an 0-2 pitch for the fourth-longest Colorado homer of the season.

Blackmon has now hit safely in 43 of the 54 games he’s played in since coming back from a toe injury in April. He’s also reached base safely in 50 of those contests.

The homer was also his fifth of the week, despite telling me in New York that he didn’t believe he was on a home run binge. Sorry Charlie, the stats say otherwise.

Blame it on the (lack of) rain

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Heading into Sunday’s game, Colorado and Arizona had combined for 83 hits in the first three games of the four-game series. On Sunday, the teams combined for 26 more, bringing the total to 109 for the series.

“Crazy is the best way to describe it,” Weiss said. “Those are the type of series that they call widow-makers.”

Weiss said the hot, dry conditions for the series were certainly part of the reason for the hit parade.

“We know that when it gets bone dry and it’s hot, it’s going to play a little different,” Weiss said. “This series, it’s been dry and hot and that’s typically when we’ll get those types of games.

“It’s been pretty crazy, especially the runs coming late. That’s what reminds me of the old days, where you’d see a barrage in the last three innings,” Weiss continued. “That’s what it has looked like during this series. It makes it a little more stressful when you’re having to manage games like that. I’m pretty used to it. I’ve seen a lot of games here and been in the dugout for a lot of games here. It’s become our normal to a degree.”

Goldschmidt continues to terrorize the Rockies

Colorado has a name for its pain, and it is Paul Goldschmidt.

With a two-run triple to deep left-center in the fourth inning, the Arizona first baseman has now reached base safely in 48 consecutive games against the Rockies. Seriously.

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Thankfully, the Colorado Rockies don’t see Goldschmidt and Arizona again until the Diamondbacks pay a visit to Coors Field on Labor Day weekend.