Blackmon, Gomber lead Rockies to sweep of Rangers in 11-6 victory
Jun 4, 2021, 6:43 AM
Austin Gomber hadn’t felt well in a couple of days, but he pushed that aside on Thursday to pitch six scoreless and pick up the win the Rockies’ fourth consecutive victory; this one completing a three-game sweep of the visiting Rangers.
“The past couple of days were a grind,” Gomber explained. “Today, I woke up feeling pretty good. Because I haven’t been able to get a ton of food down the past couple of days, I was running a little low on energy.”
The Rockies weren’t certain he would make the start at all, according to manager Bud Black.
“We were worried a little bit. We sent him home early yesterday,” Black said. “He assured us he was fine. He was a little weak when he got to the ballpark, but we felt good enough to run him out there.”
Gomber only threw 78 pitches over six innings, but in that time, he struck out six Rangers while walking none; allowing only three singles and retiring 10 of his last 11 batters before leaving the game. That was more than enough, given that Gomber left the game with a 7-0 lead behind an offense that saw veteran outfielder Charlie Blackmon go 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
Gomber, the main component of the Rockies’ trade of Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals, hasn’t had a problem adapting to hitter-friendly Coors Field; his home ERA in four starts this season is an astounding 1.33.
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NEXT UP: Rockies (23-34, 4th in NL West) vs. Athletics (33-25, 1st in AL West) | Friday, Jun. 4 at 6:40 p.m. | COL: Jon Gray (4-5, 3.71 ERA) vs. OAK: Frankie Montas (5-5, 4.45 ERA).
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NOTES
• Garrett Hampson went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, tying a career-high in single-game hits. The center-fielder/second baseman/shortstop has never hit left-handed pitching well, but teammate Charlie Blackmon is seeing clear improvement, saying, “Now we’re starting to see him get a little more contact on the ball down and away from him, whether it’s a left-handed change, whether it’s a left-handed breaking ball, whether it’s a down-and-away fastball.”
• Trevor Story is still with the Rockies, much to the surprise of general managers around the league, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, who relayed this quote from an anonymous American League front-office executive: “Every year, the rental prices lessen. It’s just too hard for any player you trade for to swing a team’s chances in a couple of months. So we’d pay more for a rental now than at the end of July. And that’s how most teams think. That’s why, if he (Story) was on the Rays, they’d have traded him last winter. Or maybe the winter before. Or the winter before that!” Story, an impending free agent, is expected to return to the lineup early next week as he recovers from arm tightness.
• Charlie Blackmon’s bat has come around. One month ago, on May 4, Blackmon was hitting .188. On June 4, after going 3-for-4 on Thursday with his fourth home run of the season, Blackmon is hitting .262.
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THE FINAL WORD
“Our guys feel comfortable here; they’re super-confident swinging the bat.” — Manager Bud Black, on the Rockies’ 19-12 home record this season.
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STARTING LINEUP
LF Raimel Tapia
CF Yonathan Daza
RF Charlie Blackmon
3B Joshua Fuentes
1B Matt Adams
2B Garrett Hampson
SS Brendan Rodgers
C Elias Diaz
SP Austin Gomber
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INJURY WATCH
• Ryan McMahon (strained left groin) missed the Jun. 3 game and is day-to-day.
• Trevor Story (arm tightness) was pulled from the second game of a doubleheader on May 27, but a follow-up MRI revealed nothing of concern. Story is eligible to return from the IL on Jun. 8.
• Ben Bowden (strained left shoulder) was placed on the 10-day IL on May 16. He was removed from the list and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Jun. 1.
• Chris Owings (left thumb surgery) was placed on the 60-day IL in mid-April and will likely be out until the All-Star break.
• Scott Oberg (blood clots) had surgery prior to the end of Spring Training. He was placed on the 60-day IL on Mar. 27 and his season is in doubt.
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Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan
