PHOENIX -- Kyle Freeland gave Colorado precisely what it needed after a tough few days for its pitching staff.
The 23-year-old right-hander held the high-scoring Arizona Diamondbacks to a run over six effective innings and Trevor Story homered to help the Rockies win 3-1 Friday night.
Colorado moved into first place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks, in the opener of the three-game series.
The Rockies had just lost three straight at Coors Field to the Washington Nationals, allowing 42 runs over that span.
Freeland (3-1) gave up a run and six hits with two walks. He struck out two and lowered his ERA to 2.93. Chris Rusin, Adam Ottavino and Greg Holland combined for three scoreless innings, with Holland earning his 10th save.
"I was impressed by how he hung in there," Rockies manager Bud Black said of Freeland.
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray (2-1) struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings but allowed three runs and five hits with three walks.
Nolan Arenado hit a ground-rule double to left field with two outs in the first inning and scored on Carlos Gonzalez's single. Story, who hit six of his 27 homers last season against Arizona, made it 2-0 in the second with his fifth of the season.
The Diamondbacks answered with a run in the third. Freeland got two outs before A.J. Pollock singled, Chris Owings walked and Paul Goldschmidt lined a 3-2 pitch to center field to drive in Pollock.
The Diamondbacks had runners on second and third with one out for Goldschmidt in the fifth, even after Story dived behind second base to rob Pollock of a hit and force a fielder's choice. But Freeland worked out of the jam, as Goldschmidt was retired on a broken bat popup and Yasmany Tomas bounced out.
"Good pitch, good result," Black said. "Hitters three and four in a one-run game, good stuff."
Charlie Blackmon's two-out single in the seventh drove in Pat Valaika and chased Ray. Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Arizona had five straight wins over the Rockies going back to last season and entered the game second in the majors in total runs with 132.
"Kind of an unfortunate night for us. I thought Robbie did an incredible job, keeping a very offensive team down and kept us in striking distance all game long," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "Offensively we couldn't piece things together. We couldn't string a bunch of hits together, which we typically have done."
GOOD GRABS
Both teams had outfielders turn in big defensive plays. Tomas, not typically known for his glove work, ran down Dustin Garneau's fly for a backhanded catch in the second inning before hitting the left field wall. Blackmon took a hit away from Arizona's David Peralta when the Rockies center fielder slid to catch a sinking fly ball.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis, on the 60-day disabled list as he battles testicular cancer, is with the team this weekend and played catch in the outfield before Friday's game. "This is what I needed," Bettis said. "It's been great to walk through those doors." Bettis has seven days of treatments remaining over three weeks. ... INF Ian Desmond played an extended spring training game on Friday as he works his way back from a broken left hand. Desmond could return to the Rockies in the next few days. ... OF David Dahl (rib) is also at extended spring training doing rehab work.
Diamondbacks: 2B Brandon Drury returned to the lineup after missing Thursday to rest a jammed right knee.
UP NEXT
Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (1-3) brings a 7.11 ERA into his scheduled start against Arizona. It will be his fourth road start in six this season.
Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (2-2) faces the Rockies. He is 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA in 19 career starts against Colorado.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
Colorado Rockies
The 23-year-old right-hander held the high-scoring Arizona Diamondbacks to a run over six effective innings and Trevor Story homered to help the Rockies win 3-1 Friday night.
Colorado moved into first place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks, in the opener of the three-game series.
The Rockies had just lost three straight at Coors Field to the Washington Nationals, allowing 42 runs over that span.
Freeland (3-1) gave up a run and six hits with two walks. He struck out two and lowered his ERA to 2.93. Chris Rusin, Adam Ottavino and Greg Holland combined for three scoreless innings, with Holland earning his 10th save.
"I was impressed by how he hung in there," Rockies manager Bud Black said of Freeland.
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray (2-1) struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings but allowed three runs and five hits with three walks.
Nolan Arenado hit a ground-rule double to left field with two outs in the first inning and scored on Carlos Gonzalez's single. Story, who hit six of his 27 homers last season against Arizona, made it 2-0 in the second with his fifth of the season.
The Diamondbacks answered with a run in the third. Freeland got two outs before A.J. Pollock singled, Chris Owings walked and Paul Goldschmidt lined a 3-2 pitch to center field to drive in Pollock.
The Diamondbacks had runners on second and third with one out for Goldschmidt in the fifth, even after Story dived behind second base to rob Pollock of a hit and force a fielder's choice. But Freeland worked out of the jam, as Goldschmidt was retired on a broken bat popup and Yasmany Tomas bounced out.
"Good pitch, good result," Black said. "Hitters three and four in a one-run game, good stuff."
Charlie Blackmon's two-out single in the seventh drove in Pat Valaika and chased Ray. Blackmon extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
Arizona had five straight wins over the Rockies going back to last season and entered the game second in the majors in total runs with 132.
"Kind of an unfortunate night for us. I thought Robbie did an incredible job, keeping a very offensive team down and kept us in striking distance all game long," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "Offensively we couldn't piece things together. We couldn't string a bunch of hits together, which we typically have done."
GOOD GRABS
Both teams had outfielders turn in big defensive plays. Tomas, not typically known for his glove work, ran down Dustin Garneau's fly for a backhanded catch in the second inning before hitting the left field wall. Blackmon took a hit away from Arizona's David Peralta when the Rockies center fielder slid to catch a sinking fly ball.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis, on the 60-day disabled list as he battles testicular cancer, is with the team this weekend and played catch in the outfield before Friday's game. "This is what I needed," Bettis said. "It's been great to walk through those doors." Bettis has seven days of treatments remaining over three weeks. ... INF Ian Desmond played an extended spring training game on Friday as he works his way back from a broken left hand. Desmond could return to the Rockies in the next few days. ... OF David Dahl (rib) is also at extended spring training doing rehab work.
Diamondbacks: 2B Brandon Drury returned to the lineup after missing Thursday to rest a jammed right knee.
UP NEXT
Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (1-3) brings a 7.11 ERA into his scheduled start against Arizona. It will be his fourth road start in six this season.
Diamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (2-2) faces the Rockies. He is 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA in 19 career starts against Colorado.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Colorado - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Blackmon grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Story struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Arenado hit a ground rule double to deep left. | 0 | 0 |
| González singled to center, Arenado scored. | 1 | 0 |
| Reynolds walked, González to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Parra grounded out to second. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Pollock grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| Owings grounded out to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Tomás grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Goldschmidt out at second. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Valaika flied out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Garneau lined out to left. | 1 | 0 |
| Freeland struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Drury flied out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Peralta lined out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| Iannetta grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Blackmon popped out to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Story homered to center (425 feet). | 2 | 0 |
| Arenado walked. | 2 | 0 |
| González grounded out to second, Arenado to second. | 2 | 0 |
| Reynolds struck out swinging. | 2 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Descalso grounded out to first. | 2 | 0 |
| Ray struck out swinging. | 2 | 0 |
| Pollock reached on infield single to third. | 2 | 0 |
| Owings walked, Pollock to second. | 2 | 0 |
| Goldschmidt singled to center, Pollock scored, Owings to third. | 2 | 1 |
| Tomás flied out to center. | 2 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Parra bunt grounded out to third. | 2 | 1 |
| Valaika struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| Garneau struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Drury grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 1 |
| Peralta grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 1 |
| Iannetta singled to right. | 2 | 1 |
| Descalso struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Freeland struck out looking. | 2 | 1 |
| Blackmon lined out to center. | 2 | 1 |
| Story struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Ray singled to center. | 2 | 1 |
| Pollock grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Ray out at second. | 2 | 1 |
| Owings singled to center, Pollock to second. | 2 | 1 |
| Pollock stole third, Owings stole second. | 2 | 1 |
| Goldschmidt popped out to shortstop. | 2 | 1 |
| Tomás grounded out to second. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Arenado struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| González doubled to right. | 2 | 1 |
| Reynolds grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 1 |
| Parra struck out swinging. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Freeland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Drury singled to left. | 2 | 1 |
| Peralta grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Drury out at second. | 2 | 1 |
| Iannetta grounded out to first. | 2 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Robbie Ray pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Valaika walked. | 2 | 1 |
| Garneau sacrificed to pitcher, Valaika to second. | 2 | 1 |
| LeMahieu hit for Freeland. | 2 | 1 |
| LeMahieu flied out to center, Valaika to third. | 2 | 1 |
| Blackmon singled to left, Valaika scored. | 3 | 1 |
| Delgado relieved Ray. | 3 | 1 |
| Blackmon to second on wild pitch by Delgado. | 3 | 1 |
| Story struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Chris Rusin pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Rusin relieved Freeland. | 3 | 1 |
| Descalso struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| Herrmann hit for Delgado. | 3 | 1 |
| Herrmann struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| Ottavino relieved Rusin. | 3 | 1 |
| Pollock walked. | 3 | 1 |
| Pollock safe at second on throwing error by pitcher Ottavino. | 3 | 1 |
| Pollock stole third. | 3 | 1 |
| Owings grounded out to third. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Tom Wilhelmsen pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| Wilhelmsen relieved Delgado. | 3 | 1 |
| Arenado flied out to right. | 3 | 1 |
| González grounded out to second. | 3 | 1 |
| Reynolds struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Adam Ottavino pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Goldschmidt flied out to right. | 3 | 1 |
| Tomás struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| Drury popped out to second. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Colorado - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| T.J. McFarland pitching for Arizona | COL | ARI |
| McFarland relieved Wilhelmsen. | 3 | 1 |
| Parra grounded out to second. | 3 | 1 |
| Valaika grounded out to pitcher. | 3 | 1 |
| Garneau doubled to deep center. | 3 | 1 |
| Adames hit for Ottavino. | 3 | 1 |
| Adames struck out looking. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Arizona - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Greg Holland pitching for Colorado | COL | ARI |
| Holland relieved Ottavino. | 3 | 1 |
| Peralta grounded out to first. | 3 | 1 |
| Iannetta flied out to right. | 3 | 1 |
| Descalso struck out swinging. | 3 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
Colorado Rockies
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackmon CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .302 | .352 | .635 |
| Story SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | .179 | .266 | .405 |
| Arenado 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | .315 | .374 | .663 |
| González RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .225 | .281 | .363 |
| Reynolds 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | .306 | .368 | .612 |
| Parra LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .294 | .333 | .456 |
| Valaika 2B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | .333 | .385 | .583 |
| Garneau C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | .171 | .227 | .341 |
| Freeland P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | .222 | .222 | .222 |
a-LeMahieu PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .267 | .357 | .372 |
Rusin P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .500 |
Ottavino P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
b-Adames PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .000 | .071 | .000 |
Holland P
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 128 | |||
| a-flied out to center for K Freeland in the 7th b-struck out looking for A Ottavino in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Arenado (8, Ray); González (5, Ray); Garneau (4, McFarland) HR: Story (5, 3rd inning off Ray 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: González (6), Story (12), Blackmon (24) S: Garneau 2-out RBI: González, Blackmon Rockies RISP: 2-9 (LeMahieu 0-1, Story 0-1, Reynolds 0-2, Parra 0-2, Blackmon 1-1, Adames 0-1, González 1-1) Team LOB: 6 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Ottavino (1, throw) DP: 1 (Valaika-Story-Reynolds). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ |
| Attendance | 19,300 (39.8% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:53 |
| Weather | indoors |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jon Byrne, First Base - Mike Estabrook, Second Base - Jerry Layne, Third Base - Marvin Hudson |
