Blackmon homers twice in Rockies' victory
NEW YORK -- Charlie Blackmon homered twice and Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer as the Colorado Rockies defeated the New York Yankees 8-4 on Tuesday night.
Arenado hit his 21st home run with one out in the sixth when he drove a 1-0 pitch from reliever Nick Goody inside the foul pole and over the left field wall.
Before the third baseman hit his latest home run, Blackmon recorded his fourth career multi-homer game with solo shots in the first and fourth off Ivan Nova (5-5).
Mark Reynolds drove in two runs, Carlos Gonzalez had an RBI single and Arenado added a sacrifice fly as the Rockies (34-36) won for the 10th time in 15 games.
Alex Rodriguez accounted for two New York runs with a double play grounder and a sacrifice fly. Didi Gregorius added an RBI triple and scored on a fielding error by second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
Chad Bettis (6-5) allowed four runs (two earned), eight hits and tied a career-high with eight strikeouts in six innings.
Nova allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits in four-plus innings.
The Rockies sent eight men to the plate during a 23-minute first inning and held a 3-0 lead.
Blackmon opened the game by hitting a 1-1 curveball off the right field foul pole for his ninth home run.
After Arenado reached on an infield single following a Colorado challenge, Gonzalez singled to right field on a ball that went under Carlos Beltran's glove.
With one out, the Rockies loaded the bases on an infield single by Descalso and took a 3-0 lead on a groundout by Reynolds. Reynolds hit the ball up the middle and second baseman Starlin Castro was able to make a diving stop for the force play but the Yankees could not complete the double play.
The Yankees got a run back when Rodriguez bounced into a 5-4-3 double play with runners at first and third.
Colorado added another run in the second by capitalizing on a fielding error by Rob Refsnyder at first base and took a 4-1 lead on a sacrifice fly by Arrenado.
New York had the tying run up after Gregorius scored on LeMahieu's error but Blackmon made a sliding catch of Refsnyder's sinking liner to center field.
Colorado increased its lead when Blackmon hit a full count fastball into the right field seats with one out in the fifth. The Rockies took a 6-2 lead when Reynolds doubled off the left field wall against Goody with one out in the fifth.
The Yankees cut it to 6-3 but also ran themselves out of the fifth. Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly to deep left field and Brett Gardner scored moments before Beltran was thrown out trying to advance to second.
NOTES: The Yankees held an on-field ceremony to recognize the victims of the June 12 shooting in Orlando. A moment of silence was held while managers Joe Girardi and Walt Weiss laid down a wreath at home plate. ... New York 1B Mark Teixeira (knee) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre Tuesday while CF Jacoby Ellsbury (stomach) was held out of the lineup. ... Colorado RHP Adam Ottavino (Tommy John surgery) had his rehab assignment moved from Single-A Modesto to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... LHP Tyler Matzek was outrighted off Colorado's 40-man roster. ... Principal owner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters Monday he believed the Yankees would be in contention by the end of July and both Girardi and GM Brian Cashman answered questions about those comments. Girardi said: "Belief is not enough, you have to go out and produce. Cashman said: "If anything right now, we'd be buyers, not sellers" before later adding he would advise Steinbrenner to sell if the team dropped out of contention.