{"id":55629,"date":"2022-07-09T20:39:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T00:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=55629"},"modified":"2022-07-09T20:39:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T00:39:01","slug":"diamondbacks-rockies-20220709","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/07\/09\/diamondbacks-rockies-20220709\/","title":{"rendered":"Rojas, Bumgarner Lead Diamondbacks to Big Win over Rockies"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 2<\/h2>\n<p>PHOENIX, July 9 \u2014 Josh Rojas went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI, leading the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/04\/06\/diamondbacks-preview-2022-improvement-looms\/\" target=\"_self\">Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> to a 9\u20132 victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/04\/06\/colorado-rockies-preview-2022\/\" target=\"_self\">Colorado Rockies<\/a> Saturday afternoon in Phoenix. Madison Bumgarner scattered six hits over seven innings to hold the Rockies at bay.<\/p>\n<p>The Rockies struck first, with designated hitter Kris Bryant \u2014 the second batter of the game \u2014 belting a 2\u20132 pitch past the left-field bullpen for a tall home run. This was Bryant\u2019s fourth homer of the series, and it gave the Rockies a 1\u20130 lead.<\/p>\n<p>The Diamondbacks responded forcefully in the bottom of the first, sending eight hitters to the plate. Catcher Carson Kelly slugged the first pitch from Kyle Freeland into the left-field corner for a leadoff double. A bunt single by Rojas \u2014 the third baseman \u2014 and walk by designated hitter Ketel Marte loaded the bases for first baseman Christian Walker. His sacrifice fly to right plated Kelly and advanced Rojas to third. Right fielder Jordan Luplow singled Rojas home before second baseman Buddy Kennedy singled, reloading the bases. A slow grounder to short by left fielder Cooper Hummel scored Marte for the third run. Center fielder Alek Thomas nearly beat out a grounder to short, which would have extended the inning, but a fine play by Garrett Hampson retired Thomas by less than a step, retiring the side.<\/p>\n<p>The Rockies narrowed the gap in the top of the third after a leadoff double to the left-field corner by first baseman Connor Joe. Right fielder Charlie Blackmon singled him across, making it a 3\u20132 game. The Diamondbacks regained a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth on Luplow\u2019s 11th homer of the season.<\/p>\n<h3>Vintage Madison Bumgarner<\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"49Uj-itWSzJHx62TJlf7ng\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1407742252\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'49Uj-itWSzJHx62TJlf7ng',sig:'wGL35lw3D9dzKKzEVPuQ-uA6iG-jc6ulZxHgnGWy9Xo=',w:'594px',h:'417px',items:'1407742252',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Bumgarner, after coughing up a leadoff double in the top of the fifth, retired the final nine batters he faced. Manager Torey Lovullo called them \u201chis best innings that I&#8217;ve seen since he&#8217;s been here.\u201d Bumgarner capped off his outing by striking out the side in the seventh on 13 pitches. He said that doing so \u201cfelt good\u201d but added that going that long without striking many out \u201cfelt weird.\u201d He said, \u201cI was being aggressive in the strike zone but had one strikeout for most of the game. I&#8217;m not striking out 10 or 12 anymore like I used to, but to see only one up there was a little weird. But they did start coming there at the end, so that made me feel a little better about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consecutive one-out singles by Thomas and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in the bottom of the seventh ended Freeland\u2019s day. In came Carlos Estevez to pitch to Kelly with runners on first and second and one out. After Kelly struck out, Rojas smoked a double into the left-center-field gap. That brought both runners around, giving the Diamondbacks a 6\u20132 lead.<\/p>\n<h3>Diamondbacks Take Commanding Lead over Rockies, Never Look Back<\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"BjI2wQgwQ8dBKV8yL5jd1w\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1407743523\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'BjI2wQgwQ8dBKV8yL5jd1w',sig:'lp1tSFq3HixKnDO16KwFxGM_gFf497ttGthxU7VS76g=',w:'594px',h:'403px',items:'1407743523',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It became an 8\u20132 game in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Jhoulys Chacin. A one-out single by Kennedy, followed by a walk from new right fielder Daulton Varsho, put runners on first and second for Thomas. He struck out. As Perdomo batted, a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. That made his subsequent hit a two-run single instead of a one-run single. Kelly advanced Perdomo to third with an end-of-the-bat bloop over shortstop into shallow left. Up came Rojas, who bounced one over the fence in left-center field. His second straight double \u2014 this one of the ground-rule variety \u2014 and third hit of the game scored Perdomo and advanced Kelly to third. This made the score 9\u20132, and a scoreless top of the ninth by reliever Caleb Smith made it final.<\/p>\n<h3>Postgame Reflections<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThat was a good all-around effort,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cNice outing by Bum, keeping it to two. Same for (relievers Noe Ramirez and Caleb Smith). Everybody came in after the offense put up three early in the first. Then they died down a little bit in those middle innings but put it on late in the last three or four innings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rojas added that he was impressed by Bumgarner\u2019s seventh inning. \u201cThat was sick. I think he was at 94 pitches going into that inning, (so) I didn&#8217;t know if was gonna go out. It&#8217;s been about his limit, 94 to 100. So going out for that last inning, I was hoping for the best. And then to sit him down like that, three strikeouts in a row, is pretty sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Torey Lovullo<\/h4>\n<p>Lovullo said the win was \u201ca really good response to something that hasn&#8217;t been going our way over the past three games. This team was a little frustrated walking in the clubhouse doors today. They went out and executed a really good game plan and made some statements all day long. Carson walking to home plate in the bottom of the first inning and doubling down the left field line gave us a quick boost after falling down 1\u20130. We tied the game up, went ahead, and had a quality approach early on. I don&#8217;t think we let Freeland get into a rhythm. So was about preparation, going out there, and making good statements. Bum pretty much took it over from there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This win came on a special day for Lovullo. It was the 90th birthday of his mother, Grace Lovullo. She was in attendance, along with several relatives. As an added thrill for her, she got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. \u201cIt was an emotional moment for her,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s been my hero my whole life.\u201d He remarked that despite being 90, she was more concerned about throwing the ball overhand instead of underhand. \u201cBut she is somebody who guides me,\u201d he continued, \u201cand has turned me into the person I am today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy parents were unbelievable influences in my life. I lost my father five years ago, so it&#8217;s just been my mom continuing to raise four children in her special way from a very long distance. And it was a great moment for me. I\u2019m especially grateful that my whole family was here, and to have her do it at 90 years old is, for me, very remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n<p>Bumgarner posted a quality start, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks. This gave him the win, running his record to 5\u20138. Freeland (4\u20137) took the loss.<\/p>\n<p>The Diamondbacks (38\u201347) and Rockies (37\u201348) will play the last game of their four-game series Sunday afternoon. Lefty Tyler Gilbert (0\u20133, 6.86 ERA) and righty German M\u00e1rquez (4\u20137, 5.90 ERA) will start for the Diamondbacks and Rockies, respectively. First pitch is at 1:10 Arizona time.<\/p>\n<h4>Main Photo:<\/h4>\n<p><a id=\"iIatTpgATXZ04IoNkAPSHA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1407758255\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'iIatTpgATXZ04IoNkAPSHA',sig:'7gbZCeK-VuGOivTm23kIECz08YqR66xLdjXvZYemEzg=',w:'594px',h:'414px',items:'1407758255',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Players\/managers mentioned:<\/h4>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rojasjo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Rojas<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bumgama01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Madison Bumgarner<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryankr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kris Bryant<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=kellyca02,kelly-004car&amp;search=Carson+Kelly&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carson Kelly<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freelky01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Freeland<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marteke01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ketel Marte<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkech02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Walker<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/luplojo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Luplow<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennebu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buddy Kennedy<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hummeco01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cooper Hummel<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomaal01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alek Thomas<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hampsga01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Garrett Hampson<\/a>,<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/joeco01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connor Joe<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blackch02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charlie Blackmon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/lovulto01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Torey Lovullo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/perdoge01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geraldo Perdomo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/estevca01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Estevez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chacijh01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jhoulys Chacin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/varshda01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daulton Varsho<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=smithca03,smith-013cal,smith-016cal,smith-012cal,smith-014cal&amp;search=Caleb+Smith&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Smith<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/ramirno01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Noe Ramirez<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilbety01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Gilbert<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marquge01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 2 PHOENIX, July 9 \u2014 Josh Rojas went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9\u20132 victory over the Colorado Rockies Saturday afternoon in Phoenix. Madison Bumgarner scattered six hits over seven innings to hold the Rockies at bay. The Rockies struck first, with designated hitter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2901,"featured_media":55630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,32,1071],"tags":[1045,4645,2974,105,78],"class_list":["post-55629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamondbacks","category-rockies","category-mlb","tag-carson-kelly","tag-diamondbacks-featured","tag-josh-rojas","tag-kris-bryant","tag-madison-bumgarner"],"modified_by":"Evan Thompson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}