Ezequiel Tovar homered among his three hits, Elehuris Montero also went deep and the Colorado Rockies used a four-run eighth inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Denver on Monday night.
Brendan Rodgers had two hits and Charlie Blackmon singled twice in his return to the Colorado lineup. Matt Koch (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win, and Justin Lawrence struck out the side in the ninth for his 10th save. The Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak while the Diamondbacks lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
Christian Walker homered, doubled and drove in three runs and Merrill Kelly struck out a season-high 11 batters for Arizona.
Blackmon started Colorado’s winning rally in the eighth with an infield single, and Tovar and Ryan McMahon followed with singles to load the bases with no outs. Scott McGough relieved Joe Mantiply (1-1) and got the first out, but Rodgers tied it with a two-run single up the middle.
Nolan Jones followed with another single to put Colorado ahead, and Alan Trejo’s pinch-hit single off Kyle Nelson made it a two-run lead.
The Diamondbacks got on the board in the top of the first inning. Corbin Carroll led off the game with a walk and scored on a two-out double by Walker.
The visitors added to their lead in the second when Alek Thomas and Gabriel Moreno hit back-to-back doubles off starter Chris Flexen.
It stayed 2-0 until the fifth inning when Montero homered to center field, his fifth of the season.
Arizona responded in the top of the sixth inning. Flexen got the first out before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and Walker homered just over the scoreboard in right field to make it 4-1. It was his 25th of the season.
Flexen allowed four runs on five hits and one walk while striking out six in six innings.
Tovar answered with a solo shot leading off the bottom of the sixth, his 13th of the season.
Kelly left after six innings, having allowed two runs on five hits and a walk. His 11 strikeouts were one shy of his career best, which came on May 20, 2021, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
–Field Level Media
