The Rockies stole home for the first time in nearly 13 years. But that was just a subplot to their 16-4 shellacking of the Pirates Saturday night at Coors Field.
In front of a lively crowd of 40,033, backup catcher Hunter Goodman rocked LoDo with a supercharged performance. Also, Michael Toglia provided a fireworks grand finale with a grand slam in the eighth, the first of his career.
Colorado’s 16 runs were a season-high and its most since scoring 16 vs. St. Louis on Aug. 9, 2022.
Goodman, 24, was making just his second start behind the plate as a big leaguer. For one game, at least, he thrived. He slugged two home runs, doubled, singled, and drove in four runs. His four hits were a career-high, and it was the first time he’d hit two homers in a big-league game.
He came to the plate in the seventh a triple short of hitting for the cycle and lashed a line drive to deep left-center. If the ball bounced off the wall at just the right angle, Goodman might have had his cycle. Instead, the ball cleared the wall for his second homer of the night.
“I was running hard out of the box,” Goodman said. “I hit it lower (than normal), and I didn’t know if it was going out. I was probably going to try for the triple if it hit the wall. But you can never be mad at a homer.”
Goodman entered the game batting just .156 with two home runs in limited playing time. With veteran Elias Diaz on the injured list with a left calf strain, Goodman is getting his chance to prove himself as a catcher, and a hitter.
“We’ve been working on some stuff in the cage over the last few weeks, trying to work on some consistency with my moves in the box and getting a little shorter to the ball,” said Goodman, who’s also tinkering with his leg kick at the plate.
Goodman rocketed his first homer in the third, a leadoff, 440-foot blast off heralded rookie right-hander Jared Jones, to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead.
Manager Bud Black praised the work Goodman is doing to improve his offense and raved about the job Goodman did catching veteran left-hander Ty Blach.
“He was outstanding both ways,” Black said. “Tonight, he showed the power that he has. He had 36 homers in the minors last year. … There is no doubt that tonight is a sign of something he can do. The trick is doing it with consistency.”
As for Goodman’s receiving, Black said: “I thought he did a great job with Ty. There were a number of pitches that Ty shook (off). But I didn’t see any disruption of rhythm or anything that was a negative between those two guys. What I really loved was their between-inning conversations. I dig that.”
Now, about that rare steal of home.
It came with two outs in the third inning on a heads-up piece of baserunning by Ryan McMahon, who is not particularly fleet of foot. Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was playing about 40 feet off the bag and making no effort to hold McMahon. Catcher Yasmani Grandal looked McMahon back to third without much conviction and then lobbed the ball back to Jones. McMahon broke for home and scored standing up, without a throw.
McMahon credited third base coach Warren Schaeffer for setting him up for his rare theft. Schaeffer noted that Hayes was far off the bag and that Grandal was soft-tossing back to the mound. McMahon broke for home just before Grandal threw the ball to Jones.
” ‘Schaeff’ has got a great mind,” McMahon said. “He sees the game through a player’s lens. He gets it. Little things like that are the things that help you win ballgames.”
Dexter Fowler, whom the late, great Vin Scully once called “Daddy Long Legs,” was the last Rockies player to steal home. Fowler did it on July 21, 2011, vs. the Braves at Coors Field.
Blach, who helped steer Goodman through the game, provided the solid building block for Colorado’s victory. Though gave up seven hits and had to deal with traffic, he held the Pirates to two runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Nick Gonzalez whistled a 429-foot line-drive homer to center in the fourth. Blach dodged big-time trouble in the sixth. Pittsburgh loaded the bases on a single by Gonzalez and two freebies — Blach plunked Connor Joe and walked Edward Olivarez. Yasmani Grandal’s infield single behind the second-base bag scored Gonzalez.
That was it for Blach, who applauded from the dugout as reliever Geoff Hartlieb got Jared Triolo to foul out to first baseman Elehuris Montero.
After the game, Blach mostly wanted to discuss his partnership with Goodman.
“Hunter and I got to work a little bit together in Triple-A, and he’s out there in the bullpen,” Blach said. “It’s not like he hasn’t been working on it. We spent a lot of time together talking about how we wanted to attack those guys, and I thought we were on the same page.”
Notes of Note from LoDo
A lot happened in the Rockies’ 16-4 win over the Pirates Saturday night at Coors Field. Here’s a recap:
• It was the second time in franchise history that the Rockies had a steal of home and a grand slam in the same game. The last time? Sept. 29, 2001, vs. Milwaukee. Greg Norton stole home and pitcher Denny Neagle hit a grand slam.
• Hunter Goodman became the first Rockies player with 11 or more total bases since C.J. Cron on March 30, 2023, at San Diego. Goodman the game in an 0-for-16 slump.
• The Pirates have hit multiple home runs in five consecutive games at Coors Field, tied for the third-longest such streak by a visiting team in the ballpark’s history.
• Pirates veteran Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer in the seventh and has homered in five consecutive games at Coors Field dating back to Sept. 7, 2022. He’s the third visiting player in history to have a home run streak of at least five games at Coors Field, joining Giancarlo Stanton (Six, Aug. 15, 2011 to Aug. 18, 2012) and Jeff Kent (Five, Aug. 26, 2022 to Sept. 16, 2003).
Sunday’s pitching matchup
Pirates TBA at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (2-8, 4.87 ERA)
1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Hudson has pitched better of late, but he’s struggled at Coors Field, going 0-3 with a 7.57 ERA in six starts. Opponents have raked him at a .321 clip in LoDo. He’s 2-5 in eight road starts with a 3.07 ERA and a .197 average against. Overall, Hudson has pitched better lately, posting a 3.41 ERA over his last six starts. The former Cardinals pitcher is familiar with the Pirates, having faced them 11 times (seven starts) in his career, going 2-1 with one save and a 4.82 ERA. He faced Pittsburgh on Sept. 1 last season at Busch Stadium, allowing one run on just three hits over seven innings.
Pitching probables
Monday: Dodgers LHP James Paxton (6-1, 3.92) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (6-4, 3.30), 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (1-4, 4.64) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-4, 4.26), 6:40 p.m.