Walk-off grand slam for Ryan McMahon gives Rockies a happy home opener
Apr 5, 2024, 5:27 PM | Updated: 7:04 pm
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER — For a change, the high-wire act of the Colorado Rockies — one that too often has resulted in disastrous falls in recent years — saw the team navigate through the peril and emerge happy on the other side.
After Justin Lawrence suffered his first blown save of the season by conceding 5 runs — 4 earned — in the top of the ninth inning to evaporate a 6-2 lead, Ryan McMahon crushed a walk-off grand slam to the right-field stands, giving the Rockies a 10-7 home-opener win that delighted the sellout crowd on hand for the home opener.
WALK-OFF SLAM pic.twitter.com/rTO9HziKOg
— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2024
McMahon’s home run capped a bonkers final inning that literally was unlike any other in the history of Major League Baseball. According to OptaSTATS, it marked the first time ever that a team refunded a lead of four or more runs in the top of the ninth, only to win it with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the frame.
The blast of Ryan McMahon redeemed the Rockies, who found themselves the subject of boos from frustrated fans after Lawrence came apart in the top of the ninth. The closer opened the inning by allowing five base hits to six batters faced. He left with the game deadlocked at 6-6.
Reliever Jalen Neeks appeared to stop the bleeding, but a Ryan McMahon throwing error with two outs allowed Ben Rortvedt to score from second base, putting the Rockies behind midway through the frame.
In the bottom of the ninth, Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks proved that one good turn deserves another. He recently-acquired Jake Cave — pinch-hitting for Charlie Blackmon — second baseman Brendan Rodgers and left fielder Nolan Jones to open the inning.
That sent Kris Bryant to the plate against Rays reliever Jason Adam. With the bases loaded and no one out, Bryant struck out on three pitches, leading to the loudest chorus of boos to rain upon the embattled slugger — even though just one inning earlier he parked a 422-foot blast into left field.
But the boos turned to cheers in seconds, as Ryan McMahon sent the first pitch of the next at-bat soaring into the right-field stands for the walk-off grand slam.
“It happened quick. I just struck out, and then, homer,” Bryant said. “A quick change of emotions there, but, yeah, Mac, he’s been really steady here early on. Some really, really good at-bats.”
