Todd Helton belted a double down the left field line in the seventh inning of the game today to secure his 2,500th hit in his glorious career, and helped the Rockies secure a 7-4 victory over the Reds to finish out the series. It was fitting that Helton's 2,500th hit was a double as he has made a career of smacking doubles all over the park. The Rockies finished the series with a victory and secured their third straight series win. Tyler Chatwood started the game but had to leave in the third inning when he tried to handle a line drive back up the middle with his bare hand. Word from the Rockies staff was that he left the game with a bruised thumb on his throwing hand. The Rockies are happy to be playing at home as they have found their winning ways again and can perhaps play spoiler for some teams down the stretch.
Tyler Chatwood cruised through the first two innings of the game but ran into trouble in the third. He gave up a single up the middle to the opposing pitcher Mike Leake. Chatwood tried to grab the ball with his bare hand and it glanced off of his thumb and into center field. The training staff came out to look at him but he convinced them that he was okay and stayed in the game. He gave up a two run home run to the next batter in Shin-Soo Choo and then walked the next two hitters which forced Walt Weiss to go to the bullpen early. Adam Ottavino came on in relief and pitched well in the game as he went three innings allowing just three hits and one walk. He got the victory in the game and is now 1-2 on the year with a 2.79 ERA on the season. Four other pitchers worked the last four innings for the Rockies to secure the win for the team.
Offensively the Rockies had another great game as they scored seven runs on 12 hits and were able to get to the Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake early and often. The Rockies took the lead in the first inning when Michael Cuddyer doubled down the left field line to score Corey Dickerson. They added onto their lead in the second inning when Nolan Arenado took Leake deep to left to give the Rockies a 3-0 advantage. After the Reds tied the game in the third inning, the Rockies responded by scoring four runs in the fifth inning, which gave them the lead for good. The inning was highlighted by a DJ LeMahieu double that scored two runs and a Michael Cuddyer double to score LeMahieu. Arenado added a sacrifice fly to give the Rockies a 6-2 lead. Michael Cuddyer led off the seventh inning with a solo home run which set the mood for Todd Helton to follow that with his double to get into the history books with 2,500 career hits. Cuddyer finished the day 4 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle. Corey Dickerson added three hits in the game and DJ LeMahieu had two hits on the day.
Yasiel Puig and the rest of the Dodgers are coming into town next and will begin a three game series against the Rockies tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 PM Mountain time. The Rockies have a tough matchup to start the series as Chad Bettis will be facing off against Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is having a marvelous year for the Dodgers and should be a shoe in for the National League Cy Young Award. Bettis is 0-3 on the year with a 4.80 ERA and Kershaw is 13-8 with a stellar 1.72 ERA. The Rockies are looking to prove that they still have some fight in them this year and will not roll over for anyone.
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