Colorado Rockies morning after: 3 hits, 3 misses from road trip

An old nemesis paid a visit to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon.

The acquaintance?

A Colorado Rockies bullpen that let a game that was tied late go awry with the host Arizona Diamondbacks striking for four runs in the eighth inning off reliever Daniel Bard on the way to an 8-4 victory in the final contest of a seven-game road trip for the Rox.

After going winless in its first seven road games of the season, the loss Sunday brought to an end a 2-5 ledger for Colorado (10-18) on the team’s second swing away from home this season. The Rox went 0-6 on their first road trip in early April.

What might be even more concerning, though, for Rockies fans than the club dropping another winnable game Sunday with a collapse of the bullpen is the injury status of All-Star shortstop Trevor Story.

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Story, who drove in the Rockies’ first runs of the game with a two-run homer in the third, was removed from the game entering the fateful bottom of the eighth inning after he was hit by a pitch on his right (throwing) hand in the top of the inning when Colorado scored a pair of runs to knot the game at 4-4.

For more on Story, check here on Rox Pile for the latest updates on his injury.

The just-completed road trip had its share of highlights and lowlights. Here are three hits and three misses from the team’s time on the road.

3 hits

1. Offense continues to progress

After erupting for season highs in hits (18) and runs (14) in a lopsided win against Arizona on Saturday night, Colorado followed with 12 more hits in the road trip finale Sunday afternoon.

Raimel Tapia continued his recent tear at the plate with three hits on Sunday after getting four hits one night earlier. He is now hitting .320.

But Tapia is certainly not the only Rox player who has been swinging a hot bat lately.

First baseman C.J. Cron, who swatted his fourth homer of the season Tuesday at San Francisco, batted .348 (8-for-23) on the road trip and is now hitting .287 on the season.

Catcher Dom Nunez blasted a grand slam during a seven-run eighth inning in Saturday’s blowout win, his fifth home run of the season. The grand slam was the first for a Rockies catcher on the road in nearly 10 years (last was by Eliezer Alfonzo on July 30, 2011, at San Diego). Of Nunez’s 12 hits this season, nine have gone for extra bases.

The eighth-inning explosion Saturday against the D-backs marked the second time in less than a week that Colorado had turned the trick. The Rox also had a seven-run outburst in the fourth inning April 25 at home against Philadelphia.

2. Never-say-die attitude evident

After starting 2021 with seven straight road losses, the Rockies picked up their initial road win of the year Tuesday at San Francisco, but had to rally to do so.

Trailing 3-2, Colorado tied the score in the sixth inning then went ahead in the ninth, 4-3, on a pinch-hit home run by Garrett Hampson. After the Giants evened the game at 4-4 on a home run in the bottom of the ninth, Colorado responded with back-to-back home runs in the top of the 10th by Ryan McMahon and C.J. Cron in the eventual 7-5 victory.

The team also showed the ability to battle from behind on Sunday, deadlocking the game late after trailing 4-2 after five innings. However, Arizona’s four-spot against Bard led to the 8-4 loss.

3. Pitching debuts for Justin Lawrence and Lucas Gilbreath

The duo made their Major League debuts while on the road.

Lawrence, a right-hander, cracked the Majors with a one-inning stint Thursday against Arizona. He followed with another scoreless inning of relief on Saturday while striking out three.

Gilbreath, a left-hander, appeared for the first time on Saturday night. He permitted a home run on his first Major League pitch but settled down and needed just six pitches to finish his inning of relief.