The Phillies and Rockies slugged it out Saturday night at Coors Field. The Phillies landed the biggest punch, and it was a doozy.
First baseman Rhys Hoskins crushed a three-run homer to right-center off reliever Jhoulys Chacin in the sixth inning, lifting Philly to a 7-5 victory and ending Colorado’s three-game winning streak.
Hoskins, who also hit a two-run homer in the third inning off starter Antonio Senzatela, jumped on Chacin’s 1-0, 92 mph fastball to highlight a wild inning.
“It looked like he located (the pitch) OK. It looked like it was down in the corner or down-and-away,” manager Bud Black said. “But somehow (Hoskins) lofted it and hit it out of the park. Chacin’s stuff was good, he competed hard, but a couple of walks came back to bite us.”
Chacin, who had not pitched in 11 days, immediately got into trouble by giving up a single and a walk but was nearly rescued by catcher Elias Diaz. Diaz pounced on a sacrifice bunt by Philly starter Aaron Nola and threw a strike to third to nail Nick Maton. Next, Diaz made a perfect throw to Ryan McMahon to nab Roman Quinn attempting to steal third.
But Chacin issued a crucial two-out walk to Andrew McCutchen, setting the table for Hoskin’s homer.
The Phillies, who improved to 10-10, had lost eight of their last nine games at Coors, dating back to Sept. 24, 2018. The Rockies slipped to 7-13, which is tied for the second-worst in franchise history after 20 games and the worst since starting 6-14 in 2005.
McMahon’s two-run homer in the fifth off Nola — a laser into the right-field seats — tied the game at 4-all. McMahon leads the Rockies with seven homers and 13 RBIs.
Nola, coming off the first shutout of his career, hung tough for seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He got the win, improving to 2-1.
Colorado scratched out a run in the eighth off right-hander Connor Brogdon on a walk by Raimel Tapia, a single by Trevor Story and a groundout by Charlie Black to score Tapia. Blackmon remains in an April swoon. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and he’s now batting .153.
In the ninth, the Rockies fired up the crowd of 20,214. Garrett Hampson roped a one-out triple to left-center off right-hander Hector Neris, but Neris struck out pinch hitter Dom Nunez and got pinch hitter Sam Hilliard to pop out to lock down his third save.
Senzatela’s night was spoiled by the Phillies’ four-run third inning. Home plate umpire CB Bucknor gave Philly an assist, at least from Senzatela’s point of view.
Senzatela’s gestures from the mound, and as he walked back to the dugout, made it clear that he thought he was being squeezed by Bucknor. It also appeared that Senzatela compensated by throwing the ball more over the middle of the plate.
“I just lost my (concentration) a little bit,” he said. “I’ve got to get that fastball in against Hoskins. I think I got mad a little bit and I took it through that inning. That was bad for me. I needed to keep pitching, making good pitches after that, and not worry about the umpire’s call.”
Philly took full advantage.
Nola singled before Hoskins crushed his 435-foot, two-run homer to center. A walk by Bryce Harper, singles by J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius and a sacrifice fly by Alex Bohm put the Phillies up 4-1.
Black said he didn’t think that Senzatela started grooving his pitches, but did stay that the right-hander has to able to deal with those types of situations.
“Certain calls swing the count for sure, but this a baseball and you have to absorb certain things and get through it,” Black said. “You have to absorb that, you really do. You have to come back and make pitches.”
Senzatela departed after the fifth, having given up four runs on five hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. His ERA is 5.76. Senzatela’s performance spoiled a run of eight consecutive home games in which Rockies starters allowed two or fewer runs.
The two teams finish off their three-game series Sunday afternoon at Coors.
On Deck Phillies RHP Chase Anderson (0-2, 4.15 ERA) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (2-1, 2.42) 1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field TV: AT&T SportsNet Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gray, who’s scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the season, has been Colorado’s best pitcher. In his last start, against Houston, he pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with six strikeouts. In three starts at Coors Field this season, Gray is 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA. He’s 3-3 with a 4.14 ERA in seven career starts against the Phillies. He’s 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA in four career starts against Philly in LoDo. Anderson is 4-3 with a 4.68 ERA in 12 starts vs. Colorado. He’s coming off a 2-0 loss vs. San Francisco. He allowed two runs — on a two-run homer to Brandon Belt. Anderson gave up five hits, struck out five and issued no walks across four innings.
Trending: Rockies starters entered Saturday’s game ranked second in the majors with 10 quality starts, trailing only the Dodgers (14). Eight of the 10 quality starts have come at Coors Field.
At issue: Right-hander Yency Almonte has struggled of late and his ERA is now 9.72 after he gave up two runs in one-third of an inning Friday night. He has allowed two or more runs in four of his 10 outings. Opponents are batting .333 against him (.389 by lefties, .267 by right-handers).
Pitching Probables Monday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 3.38) at Giants RHP Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 2.14), 7:45 p.m., ATTRM Tuesday: Rockies RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (1-0, 3.00) at Giants RHP Aaron Sanchez (1-1, 1.83), 7:45 p.m., ATTRM Wednesday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (1-1, 3.45) at Giants LHP Alex Wood (2-0, 0.75), 7:45 p.m.
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