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Give the Rockies points for creativity. They keep finding ways to lose baseball games on the road.
Jonathan India hit an infielder chopper for a one-off single to score Spencer Steer from third base and lift Cincinnati to a 3-2 victory Friday night at Great American Ballpark.
Lost in the loss was a strong start by Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland.
Steer – making a stellar major league debut – was instrumental in the Reds’ win. He hit a solo homer in the fifth and led off the ninth with a double into the right-field corner off right-hander Alex Colome. Steer advanced to third on Colome’s wild pitch and scored on India’s infield hit against a five-man infield.
Colorado is now 20-45 away from Coors Field, a .308 winning percentage that is last in the majors and ranks as the third-lowest road winning percentage in franchise history.
At first, there was speculation of good news. Rookie left fielder Sean Bouchard hit a home run in the second inning to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. After Elias Diaz reached on a one-out single, Bouchard hit a homer to deep right-hander Luis Cessa for his first career homer.
“Sean had a really good year in Triple-A and we felt like we wanted to give him a good look in the big leagues,” manager Bud Black said of Bouchard, via AT&T SportsNet . “Since his return (to the degree) he has done a good job. Two walks tonight and the homer.”
Ryan McMahon followed Bouchard’s homer with a single and advanced to third on Charlie Blackmon’s double. But CJ Cron fumbled and Colorado’s chance for a big game was ruined.
From the fourth through the ninth, Colorado managed just one hit off Cessa and four Cincinnati relievers, which was a harmless single by Jose Iglesias in the seventh.
Bouchard drew a walk to lead off the eighth, but then committed a costly error. He misread Brendan Rodgers’ line drive in right field, thinking it would drop for extra bases. But Arstrides Aquino ran the ball to catch and doubled Bouchard to first for a double play in the bottom.
Freeland was mostly in scoring for his first four innings. But leading off the fifth, Steer, a third baseman, crushed Freeland’s 2-1 ball to center field, cutting Colorado’s lead to 2-1.
Freeland walked into traffic in the sixth, giving up a single to Donovan Solano and a pinch hit single to Stuart Fairchild. He took second before giving way to right-hander Justin Lawrence, who singled around Steer to load the bases but struck out Jose Barrero to preserve the lead.
Freeland, tough as always, allowed eight hits over his 5 2/3 innings, but just one run. Over his last five starts on the road, he is 2-1 with a 2.46 ERA.
“The obvious thing is we’re not (resting) high,” Freeland told AT&T SportsNet. “It’s a little easier to let your stuff go to waste here. I’m not saying it’s easier to be sharp here, but you realize your pitches are going to have more depth to them and that helps a lot.”
Cincinnati tied the game, 2-2, in the top of the seventh on Jake Fraley’s first-pitch homer off reliever Dinelson Lamet. Reds defeat Rockies, 11-6.
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