Pinch hitter Braxton Fulford delivered a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Colorado Rockies survived a shaky ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in Denver on Friday.
Kyle Freeland struck out eight to become the second Colorado pitcher to reach 1,000 for his career, joining German Marquez (1,069). He finished the game with 1,001 K’s.
TJ Rumfield homered among his two hits and Ezequiel Tovar also had two hits for the Rockies, who recovered to win the opener of the three-game series. Colorado has alternated losses and victories for six games.
Jared Triolo had two hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh, which overcame Freeland’s longest start of the season. Freeland blanked the Pirates on two hits through seven innings and reached his strikeout milestone when he fanned Marcell Ozuna in the seventh.
That came during a stretch when Freeland retired 16 in a row, but Pittsburgh rallied after the lefty got the first out of the eighth.
Esmerlyn Valdez ended the streak with a one-out double. Triolo followed with a run-scoring double to chase Freeland, who wound up charged with two runs on four hits and no walks in 7 1/3 innings.
Jaden Hill came on to face pinch hitter Bryan Reynolds, who produced an RBI single on the reliever’s first pitch. Hill hit Spencer Horowitz with a pitch, and Nick Gonzales tripled to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.
Colorado, which had built a 2-0 edge on Willi Castro’s RBI double in the third and Rumfield’s 11th home run in the fourth, answered in its half of the eighth against Mason Montgomery (2-2).
With two outs, Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg singled to put runners on first and second. Fulford then came through to move the Rockies in front.
The Pirates loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth on a single, an error and a walk, but Antonio Senzatela (7-0) struck out Tyler Callihan and got Triolo to hit into a game-ending double play.
Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler tossed six strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits during his first start at Colorado. He walked two and struck out one. Chandler earned a save when he made his major league debut against the Rockies last August in Pittsburgh.
–Field Level Media
