Story’s third-career grand slam jumpstarts the Rockies to a win

Trevor Story launched his second home run of the season and it was a doozy.

Punctuated with an audible shout, and a bat flip as forceful as the 433-foot shot that nearly landed on the left field concourse at Coors Field, Story floated around the bases looking like a man with a weight lifted.

“A lot of emotion, for sure. It was fun to let it out there,” Story said. “It was kind of a turning point in the game; could have turned the game, and it did. I knew I got that one. When you do well, it’s exciting. That’s really the true feeling of it.”

The Phillies’ Bryce Harper had homered twice already, but they were both solo shots; Story’s grand slam broke Sunday’s game open, and the Rockies cruised to a 12-2 win.

With Sunday’s 2-for-4 effort, Story raised his average to .299 on the season. Though Sunday’s home run was his first, advanced statistics show that’s a matter of bad luck more than anything else, and the two-time All-Star will certainly be one of the most coveted free agents available in the offseason. Given the $340 million deals given to fellow shortstops Francisco Lindor of the Mets and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres, the 28-year-old Story may be looking at a $300 million windfall — a wind that will eventually blow him out of Colorado if the Rockies don’t trade him first; but that’s not what he’s thinking about.

“We’re all fighting for each other,” Story said. “We’re in this thing. We’re out there battling another team, a different jersey. We’re all we got. It was cool to see them — that’s what fired me up more than anything, my teammates’ reactions.”

Manager Bud Black understands the pressure on Story, given the rumors swirling around him on a daily basis and the desire to pick up the slack as veteran Charlie Blackmon’s play continues to decline.

“There’s a part of me that thinks that he thinks has to do more than what he needs to do; sort of carry the team at times,” Black suggested. “I tell him he doesn’t need to — he just needs to be Trevor Story.”

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NEXT UP: Rockies (8-13, 5th in NL West) at Giants (14-8, 2nd, NL Wast) | Monday, Apr. 26 at 7:45 p.m. | COL: Austin Gomber (1-2, 3.38 ERA) vs SF: Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 2.14 ERA).

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NOTES

• Jon Gray allowed only two runs over six innings — both solo home runs by Phillies star outfielder Bryce Harper — while striking out six, earning his third win of the season and lowering his ERA to 2.54. Like his teammate Trevor Story, Gray will become a free agent after the season.

• C.J. Cron found his swing during the Rockies’ eight-game homestand. Cron went 10-for-27 with three homers and nine RBI — including going 4-for-5 with a two-run homer on Sunday — raising his average from .189 to .266. Now sitting second among qualifying Colorado hitters in OPS (.825) and RBI (11) to Ryan McMahon, the Rockies need consistent production out of the 31-year-old Cron at the power-premium first base position.

• Charlie Blackmon sat out on Sunday, mired in a 5-for-36 (.139) slump over his last 10 games. Blackmon, 34, is hitting only .153 (9-for 59) on the season, but his four doubles are tied for second-most on the Rockies behind Trevor Story’s six. Blackmon’s batting WAR of minus-0.5 is better than only eight players in all of baseball.

• Jordan Sheffield pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game. Sheffield, a Rule 5 selection from the Dodgers last December, has six appearances this season, and has allowed only two hits to the twenty batters he’s faced, striking out two and walking none while keeping his ERA at a pristine 0.00.

• The Rockies’ 12 runs scored was their highest offensive output since they scored a dozen in another 12-2 win — that time over the Reds — on Jul. 26, 2019.

• The Rockies were swept in San Francisco by the Giants in early April, and have yet to win a road game this season. On Monday, Rockies pitcher Austin Gomber and Giants hurler Anthony Desclafani will face off, each for the second time this season against their opposing teams. On April 9, Gomber was the hard-luck loser after walking four, but otherwise scattering two runs and only one hit over six innings in what was eventually a 3-1 loss for the Rockies. On April 11, DeSclafani shut the Rockies out for six innings while striking out eight en route to to his first win of the season in a 4-0 Giants victory.

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THE FINAL WORD

“That was jubilation. You can tell by the bat flip. You can tell by the way he looked in the dugout, and those first couple steps out of the box. He knew he got that one. It was hit hard. He’s all in, for sure, on this group. He thinks we can do some things moving forward.” — Manager Bud Black, on shortstop Trevor Story.

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INJURY WATCH

• Kyle Freeland (strained left shoulder) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1. He has been throwing bullpen sessions and is expected back in early May.
• Brendan Rodgers (strained right hamstring) was placed on the 10-day IL on Apr. 1. He has been practicing and could potentially return before the end of April.
• 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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STARTING LINEUP

LF Raimel Tapia
CF Garrett Hampson
SS Trevor Story
2B Ryan McMahon
1B C.J. Cron
RF Yonathan Daza
3B Josh Fuentes
C Dom Nunez
P Jon Gray

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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. Follow him on Twitter at @sdrotar.

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