Rays pound Rockies in 10-1 victory
DENVER -- Blake Snell dominated the Colorado Rockies in his Coors Field debut and the Tampa Bay Rays scored five runs in the third inning on their way to a 10-1 win on Tuesday night.
Evan Longoria hit a mammoth two-run homer in the third-inning uprising when the Rays batted around, pounded out four extra-base hits and scored five runs as Tampa Bay took a 6-0 lead.
The victory ended the Rays' 11-game losing streak on the road, the third longest in franchise history. The win was just the fifth in their past 30 games for the Rays, who will try to win consecutive games for the first time since June 14-15 in the rubber game of the series Wednesday.
Making his seventh career start, Snell allowed one hit in six scoreless innings with three walks and a career-high nine strikeouts. Eight were swinging, an indication the Rockies were overmatched by the 23-year-old left-hander, who lowered his ERA to 3.11.
Snell held the Rockies hitless until Charlie Blackmon led off the fourth with a single up the middle that extended his hitting streak to a season high-tying 11 games. He took second on a wild pitch and continued to third on catcher Luke Maile's throwing error while Snell was in the process of striking out Nolan Arenado.
Snell (2-4) then walked Trevor Story but got Ryan Raburn to fly out and end the inning. That was the only time the Rockies got a runner past second base against Snell or reliever Matt Andriese, who worked the final three innings to earn his third career save and first this season.
Andriese gave up three of the Rockies' four hits, including Trevor Story's 23rd homer of the season with one out in the ninth that averted a shutout.
Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood (8-6) is winless in four starts since June 11. He made his third start since returning from a mid-back strain he suffered in a June 18 start that put him on the disabled list. In those three starts, Chatwood is 0-2 with a 8.31 ERA.
Chatwood gave up a run in the first when Logan Forsythe led off with a double and scored when Longoria beat the Rockies' shift and grounded a single through the vacated area at second base. Chatwood got Corey Dickerson to ground into an inning-ending double play and retired the Rays in order in the second before the Rays roughed him up in the third with three doubles and Longoria's two-run homer, a 461-foot shot that landed on the left-field concourse.
The Rays tacked on three runs in the ninth against Gonzalez Germen. Dickerson, who had three hits, doubled home a run and Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer.
In the third inning, Longoria belted a 461-foot home run onto the concourse behind the left field bleachers. The high-arcing blast highlighted the Rays' five-run inning that also included three doubles off Chatwood.
Chatwood gave up a season-high seven runs and eight hits in three innings. He is 5-0 with a 1.30 ERA in eight road starts, 3-6 with a 6.26 ERA in in nine outings at Coors Field.
Forsythe led off the game with a double and scored when Longoria beat the shift and grounded a single through a wide-open second base.
Forsythe doubled again with one out in the third, and Oswaldo Arcia, who had walked, dashed home from first as the Rays began a five-run outburst that gave them a 6-0 lead.
Colorado's Charlie Blackmon led off the fourth with a single that extended his hitting streak to a season-high-tying 11 games.
The start of the game was delayed two hours and one minute by rain. Monday's game also began 32 minutes late because of rain.
NOTES: Rays RHP Alex Cobb (Tommy John surgery) will throw a bullpen session Wednesday at Tropicana Field. He will halt his rehab assignment that began July 6 for at least seven days. ... Rays RHP Brad Boxberger (left oblique) is scheduled to pitch one inning in his second rehab appearance Thursday for Class A Charlotte. ... Rockies LF Gerardo Parra (high left ankle sprain) received a cortisone shot to help relieve stiffness. ... Rays INF Steve Pearce (right hamstring) was reinstated from the disabled list and started at first base. INF/OF Nick Franklin was optioned to Triple-A Durham. ... Rockies LHP Chris Rusin (left shoulder strain) pitched four innings of one-run ball Tuesday in a rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque.