Colorado Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez (left) set a new career-high with multi-homer effort against San Francisco Giants.
Reuters/San Francisco
Carlos Gonzalez continued his home run barrage and Chris Rusin threw a complete game on Thursday night as the Colorado Rockies pounded the fading San Francisco Giants 11-3.
Gonzalez, who hit two homers and had seven RBIs on Wednesday, hit a two-run homer in the Rockies’ four-run first and belted another two-run shot in the four-run third as the Rockies strafed starter Ryan Vogelsong. “I just stunk,” said Vogelsong (9-11) who left after the first three batters reached base in the fourth and allowed a career-high tying 11 hits and eight runs. “Didn’t command the heater, breaking ball was up. Just didn’t throw well at all.”
Rusin threw his second complete game in four starts and just the third for Colorado this season. He is the first Rockies pitcher to throw two complete games in a season since Ubaldo Jimenez and Jhoulys Chacin both threw two in 2011 and the first Rockies pitcher to throw two complete games at Coors Field in one season since Aaron Cook in 2008.
The loss was the sixth straight and ninth in 12 games for the Giants, who were swept in three games at Dodger Stadium to begin their current 10-game road trip. The Rockies, who banged out a season-high 19 hits, are 4-2 in their past six games, their best stretch since the All-Star break. Gonzalez tied franchise records for the most home runs (four) and RBIs (11) in consecutive games. He took over the National League lead with a career-high 35 home runs, one more than he hit in 2010 and one more than teammate Nolan Arenado.
The left-handed hitting Gonzalez’s first homer, his double and his single all went to the opposite field. “I don’t think it can get any better than that,” Gonzalez said. “When you can go foul pole to foul pole, it’s the best you’re ever going to feel. It tells me my hands are quick enough, I don’t have to worry about anything. I don’t care if the guy throws 95-plus(mph), I just go to the plate with no worries.”
Royals outslug Tigers in marathon
Kendrys Morales stroked four hits and drove in four runs and Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals outslugged the Detroit Tigers 15-7 in a game lasting two minutes shy of four hours Thursday night.
Designated hitter Morales, who hit a two-run double in a six-run seventh to break the game open, upped his RBI total to 98, which ranks second in the American League. Center fielder Cain, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, was one of six Royals with a multi-hit game. Cain, who has injected his name into the American League MVP race, raised his average to .315.
“It was definitely a long game, but we will take that kind of win,” Cain said. Second baseman Ben Zobrist also collected four hits, scored three runs and drove in two runs while rookie left fielder Paulo Orlando belted a two-run homer.
The Tigers allowed 61 runs in a 1-5 trip to Kansas City and Toronto. “This was a very tough road trip for the pitching staff,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “We do have some young guys, but we’ve got to work to get them better. Some tough lessons learned on this road trip.”
The first inning lasted 47 minutes and required 76 pitches — 38 each by Tigers rookie left-hander Matt Boyd and Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez—with 14 men coming to the plate. It featured five runs, seven hits, two walks and mound visits by each pitching coach. The Royals forged ahead 8-6 in the fourth with left fielder Alex Gordon’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded scoring Eric Hosmer with the first run. Catcher Salvador Perez punched a two-out single to score Morales to expand the lead.
Brewers again sweep Pirates
The Milwaukee Brewers finished off a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates—their second of the season—with a 5-3 victory Thursday night at Miller Park, which has been nothing short of a house of horrors for the Pirates since it opened in 2001.
Pittsburgh is 84-41 at the stadium but, after Thursday, is just 17-61 since the 2007 season. This year alone, the Pirates dropped seven of nine meetings there, exactly the same number that separates them from the Cardinals in the standings.
Pitching again let the Pirates down. Left-hander Francisco Liriano was tagged for four runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out four. “He had six three-ball counts and it didn’t look like he was wild by any means. He was working hard,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I thought he was making pitches and wasn’t getting them. You have to make a better pitch or try to make a better pitch.”
Liriano (9-7) worked out of it without further damage but gave up one more in the fifth, on left fielder Khris Davis’ double then gave up three straight hits, including a double off the top of the wall in left by third baseman Elian Herrera that put Milwaukee up, 4-1.
The lead seemed to be all the cushion right-hander Taylor Jungmann (9-5) needed. The rookie right-hander overcame a slow start to go six innings, holding the Pirates to a run on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He needed 50 pitches to get through his first two innings, but worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and retired eight in a row before shortstop Jody Mercer hit the first of his two doubles to lead off the fifth.
