Lamb, Reds shut down Rockies
DENVER -- The Cincinnati Reds badly needed John Lamb to step up and give them a strong start Wednesday night in his Coors Field debut.
And in the Reds' 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, Lamb delivered. The 25-year-old left-hander pitched a career-high seven innings, one night after four Reds pitchers allowed 19 hits, including seven home runs, and 17 runs.
Lamb (1-3) gave up a run two hitters into his start but nothing more while taming the Rockies. He allowed six hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Lamb got 11 outs on ground balls and was helped by inducing two double plays.
He ran into trouble right away when Charlie Blackmon led off with a single, and DJ LeMahieu followed with a run-scoring double. But Lamb retired Nolan Arenado on a fly out, walked Carlos Gonzalez but then struck out Ryan Raburn and retired Mark Reynolds on a fielder's choice.
That proved to be the Rockies' best shot at Lamb, who threw 65 of his 92 pitches for strikes in his seventh start after beginning the season on the disabled list following December back surgery.
After Lamb left, Tony Cingrani issued a one-out walk. He fielded Nolan Arenado's comebacker that had the makings of an inning-ending double play but threw the ball into center field. Carlos Gonzalez's ground out brought in a run to make it 6-2, but Cingrani then got pinch hitter Daniel Descalso to ground out.
The Reds got that run back in the ninth thanks to the speed of Billy Hamilton, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles. He singled with two outs and stole second. After Jason Motte fell behind Joey Votto, he walked him intentionally. The Reds pulled off a double steal, and Hamilton dashed home when catcher Dustin Garneau's low throw skipped away from second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
Jay Bruce led off the eighth against Jorge De La Rosa with his 11th homer, giving the Reds a five-run cushion.
They scored an unearned run to make it 5-1 in the sixth. Eugenio Suarez led off with a single and took second when right fielder Carlos Gonzalez didn't pick the ball up cleanly. With one out, Ramon Cabrera flared a run-scoring single to short center.
Tyler Chatwood's string of working at least six innings in six straight starts ended. He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed eight hits with a season-high tying three walks and five strikeouts.
Chatwood (6-4) underwent his second Tommy John surgery and missed most of the past two seasons. Weiss understandably is being careful with Chatwood and pulled him after 100 pitches.
Their three-run second gave the Reds a 4-1 lead. A leadoff walk followed by Ivan DeJesus' single put runners on the corners with no outs. A fielder's choice netted the first run before back-to-back, two-out doubles by Zack Cosart and Billy Hamilton brought home two more.
Hamilton doubled home a run in the first after Cozart led off the game with a single. The Rockies followed suit in their half of the inning when Charlie Blackmon led off with a single that extended his career-high on-base streak to 27 consecutive games and scored when DJ LeMahieu followed with a double off starter John Lamb.
He was struck on the left buttock with a Ryan Raburn line drive to open the fourth but stayed in the game. Lamb induced double-play grounders in the third and fifth and finished the latter inning with nine ground-ball outs.
NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was not in the lineup for the second straight day due to a sore left ankle that forced him to leave Monday's game after the sixth inning. ... Reds RHP Michael Lorenzen (sprained right elbow), who threw two innings and 31 pitches in an extended spring game Tuesday in Goodyear, Ariz., will pitch in relief when he returns to the Reds, manager Bryan Price said. ... Rockies SS Trevor Story and 3B Nolan Arenado are second in the first results announced for the National League All-Star team voting. Story has 534,290 votes and trails Chicago's Addision Russell (544,240). Arenado has 593,691 votes and trails Chicago's Kris Bryant (776,107). ... Rockies LHP Boone Logan (left shoulder inflammation) is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session Thursday since going on the 15-day disabled list May 25. If all goes well, he could join the Rockies next week during their series at Los Angeles after a short rehab assignment. ... The Rockies, who totaled a franchise-record 47 total bases Tuesday in their 17-4 win, had a 1.2051 slugging percentage, the highest in a single game in major league history. The previous best was 1.2045 by Toronto on Sept. 14, 1987, against Baltimore.