Colorado
Austin Gomber dominates, Ryan McMahon blasts game-winning homer as Rockies outlast A’s in 12 innings
Amid a lost season, the Rockies’ best pitcher and best position player carried Colorado to victory on Wednesday night in Oakland.
Austin Gomber carved up the Athletics, throwing eight innings of one-run ball while continuing to look the part of Colorado’s ace. Then, Ryan McMahon — making a strong case for his first all-star nod — blasted the game-winning, two-run homer in the 12th for a 4-3 victory at the Oakland Coliseum.
“(Gomber) was brilliant,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “Changing speeds, confidence, ball-strike ratio off the charts, no walks, quick innings early, efficient. Eight innings — you don’t see that a lot in today’s game.”
After Charlie Blackmon’s single to open the game in front of a sparse crowd, Elias Diaz gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead with his two-out, two-run, 401-foot homer to center off Oakland right-hander Mitch Spence.
With that buffer, Gomber set the first 10 Oakland batters down, and was on cruise control until center fielder JJ Bleday’s solo homer to right-center put the A’s on the board and cut the score to 2-1.
But that proved to be just a blip for Gomber, who quickly settled back in to steer the Rockies to snapping a four-game slide.
The southpaw entered the game with a sparkling 0.48 ERA in three May starts, and he continued that recent trend of domination throughout the game. It’s the version of Gomber the Rockies believed they were getting when they acquired the southpaw as the centerpiece of the trade for Nolan Arenado ahead of the 2021 season.
Gomber set the A’s down in order in the fifth and the sixth before working around a pair of singles in the seventh. After setting Oakland down in order again in the eighth, Gomber was at just 90 pitches, but Black elected to go to the bullpen.
“I think at that point, it was time to make the change, and he felt so too,” Black said.
The southpaw lowered his overall ERA to 2.76 with the outing, the latest stellar showing as Gomber continues to be a bright spot in the Rockies’ rough season. He and right-hander Cal Quantrill have carried Colorado’s rotation.
Gomber allowed five hits, with no walks, six strikeouts and 10 groundball outs. He located his fastball and was also effective with his knuckle-curve and changeup, inducing 12 swing-and-misses overall.
A day after the Colorado bullpen blew the game in a 5-4 Oakland win in the series opener, southpaw Jalen Beeks came on looking for his fifth save of the season. But Beeks allowed a single to Brent Rooker and then walked Khris Davis with two outs, leading to Zack Gelof’s line drive single to center over the outstretched glove of a leaping Brendan Rodgers at second base.
That tied the game 2-2, but Beeks averted giving away the game completely by getting Colorado’s first-round pick from 2015, Tyler Nevin, to fly out to right field to force extras.
Beeks’ walk of Davis on four pitches to extend Oakland’s inning and pave the way for Gelof’s game-tying single underscored a continued troubling trend for the Rockies bullpen, which ranked last in the majors with a 12.2% walk rate entering the game.
In the 10th, the Rockies failed to score their California runner, pinch-runner Alan Trejo, after Rodgers grounded out to right-hander Lucas Erceg, Kris Bryant K’d and then Brenton Doyle also grounded out to Erceg.
Victor Vodnik came on to pitch the bottom half of the inning, and with his heater consistently sitting at 100 miles per hour, the right-hander stranded the game-winning run on third base to take the game to the 11th.
Colorado’s offense flailed again in that frame, as right-hander Austin Adams struck out the side in Jordan Beck, Hunter Goodman and Jake Cave to leave Doyle standing on second. But right-hander Nick Mears matched that feat in the bottom of the 11th, fanning the Oakland side.
Finally, McMahon allowed Colorado to break through in the 12th with his towering, 401-foot homer to right-center. The Rockies were 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position at that point, with Colorado’s previous hit in that situation being Diaz’s first-inning homer.
McMahon’s ninth homer of the year, and his third straight game with a dinger, made it 4-2. Plus, it made the Rockies the first team in MLB history with a multi-run homer in the first inning and a multi-run homer in the 12th inning or later with no runs in between, according to OptaStats.
“We bookend two-run homers — Diaz in the first and Mac in the 12th,” Black said. “We had a lot of chances in-between, left a lot of guys out there (with 14 left on base).”
The A’s got one back off Mears in the bottom of the inning, but Mears induced a key double-play before Matt Koch got Max Schuemann to fly out to end the game. It was the first 12-plus inning game for Colorado since July 22, 2022 (a 6-5 loss in Milwaukee), and the Rockies’ first win in a 12-plus inning game since the season finale in 2019 (a 4-3 win over the Brewers in Denver).
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Colorado
Colorado neighbors lament likely closure of Roxborough library; $22 million regional library breaks ground nearby
For 22 years, the Roxborough library in Roxborough Village has served the entire Roxborough Park community. But that chapter might be coming to a close, as Douglas County Libraries prepares to break ground on a near-$22 million library in a growing master-planned Colorado community nearby.
A new regional library will be built near the intersection of West Titan Road and Taylor River Circle across from the incoming Douglas County School District elementary school in Sterling Ranch. It will also serve communities such as Louviers, Chatfield, Solstice and the greater Roxborough Park community.
“It’s an opportunity for this whole development to centralize a little bit,” said Alex Taylor, president for Sterling Ranch Community Board District No. 2
Taylor was among the first 100 residents to live in Sterling Ranch, and he can’t wait to take his two sons to the library when it opens near their home.
“Having an additional space for the kids to go and find the new set of books,” Taylor said. “Creating a centralized space for everybody in all of the various communities in this region to be able to congregate.”
The 18,000-square-foot library will break ground in Sterling Ranch this summer. But this developing situation does not satisfy everyone in the community.
“Don’t take ours to give them theirs,” community member Denise Martinez said.
Seven minutes away at the Roxborough library, some neighbors don’t want to say goodbye to their longstanding community hub. But the library board has set the lease to terminate next year.
“It would be devastating to this community on so many different levels,” Martinez said.
Martinez says the smaller Roxborough library is one of the only shared amenities in the community and is walkable for many.
“I truly believe that this is the hub of the community,” Martinez said. “This is the gathering spot.”
“Our community has been here for over 40 years, and people have paid into the library system for that amount of time,” said Ephram Glass, president of Roxborough Village Metropolitan District. They’ve been paying their property taxes. The library has been accumulating all this funding, so that they could build a new facility for Roxborough, and now for that money to then go to a brand new community that hasn’t been paying in for decades, I think a lot of people will be very pissed off.”
Glass and Martinez both enjoy taking their children to the library. They say it’s a close walk or bike ride from Roxborough Primary and Intermediate School and worry about children losing accessibility to the library.
“It would take an hour and 16 minutes walking to the new facility from this one, or a 25-minute bike ride. There’s really no shoulder,” Martinez said. “This doesn’t give our kids access at all. I mean, they will ultimately not be able to go to the library unless they have a ride.”
“I imagine some kids will take the e-bikes over. Many will just not go,” Glass said.
Glass is a member of the Roxborough Village HOA, which he says offered to donate a parcel of land near the existing Roxborough library with no strings attached.
“The board chose the Sterling Ranch site as the best site,” said Bob Pasicznyuk, executive director at Douglas County Libraries.
Pasicznyuk says there have long been plans to open a larger library in the area. He says DCL chose the other site, which was donated by the Sterling Ranch developer, partially because it was centrally located in northwest Douglas County.
“Ultimately around 35,000 people will live just in Sterling Ranch alone. The audience base would then go up to say (50,000) or 60,000. Right now it’s about half that many,” Pasicznyuk said.
Pasicznyuk says the all-in cost of the library in Sterling Ranch will be $21.6 million. That includes $250,000 for an outdoor porch, $200,000 for an outdoor children’s play area and $450,000 for other outdoor improvements, including a seating area, trellis and event and trail space.
Martinez is upset those outdoor amenities will come at the cost of the library and not the Sterling Ranch developer.
“I just think that it’s ridiculous to build a park and a veranda and even insist upon those things,” Martinez said. “I just do not understand what that really has to do with literacy or books or the library. I was kind of shocked by that actually.”
Despite terminating the lease, Pasicznyuk says the library board has not voted to close the Roxborough library just yet, but admits they have always consolidated smaller libraries when larger ones open.
“We’ve been 22 years in the second-floor strip mall rental, and while we’ve been glad for the opportunity, it’s going to be an amazing opportunity to move into a freestanding library with all the amenities that we have,” Pasicznyuk said.
“It isn’t good for this community. If you’re here to serve the community, why would you shut this down?” Martinez said.
Martinez started a Change.org petition to “Save Our Roxborough Library.” She now has more than 1,400 signatures.
“We need this. This is vital for our community,” Martinez said. “We just feel like we’re being absorbed.”
“It’s a prized amenity, so it makes sense that they want to keep it,” Pasicznyuk said. “I’ve never seen a reaction other than people love their library. So, even though you’re opening a new library, and I can describe 10 things about it that might be improvements over what we have today, people are going to, because they love their library, wish to keep what they have.”
Meanwhile, Taylor is excited for the library to open in Sterling Ranch next year.
“I’m absolutely empathetic to the fact that somebody might be disappointed that a library would move a few miles away from them versus where it’s historically been,” Taylor said. “The library will be something that everyone can enjoy. It’s going to be a library in Sterling Ranch, but not just for Sterling Ranch.”
Taylor says he’s been working with Sterling Ranch’s developers and the library on a partnership with the nearby Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve. They are hoping to bring some artifacts or replicas into the library and use a mammoth hunter-gatherer theme for the children’s areas.
“It is a major archeological site in this region that there is evidence of mammoth activity and human activity going back possibly as far as 9,000 years ago,” Taylor said.
Roxborough-area residents say they plan to attend the next library board meeting on June 24 to make their voices heard.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Organizers for the Pikes Peak or Bust Parade announced on Friday, June 19, that due to a lack of resources, the parade has been canceled.
Originally scheduled for July 11 in Downtown Colorado Springs, parade organizers said they could not secure the resources needed to produce the event at the level the community deserves.
“We know many of you were looking forward to the parade, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who offered their time, support, sponsorship, and enthusiasm,” said organizers.
While the parade will no longer be taking place on July 11, organizers said the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo will return on July 14 through July 18, and tickets remain on sale.
Organizers hope to see the Colorado Springs community at the rodeo, and they remain hopeful that the beloved tradition can return in the future.
Denver Post writers have explored Colorado’s many corners and offer ways to find fun, relaxation or something new for summer. Take a look at how you can expand your possibilities this season if you’re keeping travel close to home this year.
In the mountains
Colorado’s 10 most popular hikes, according to AllTrails
Colorado waterfall hike: Copeland Falls best this time of year in early morning
This hiking trail near Red Rocks will help you get in shape for 14er season
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
An Estes Park getaway can be about more than just the outdoors
Camping
Gorgeous Colorado hike reopens this summer with new rules for hiking, camping, human waste
Forest service now charging $20 for dispersed camping in Homestake Valley
Within driving distance
These adult summer retreats can help Coloradans escape burnout
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Looking for beach vibes? Here’s where to find them in landlocked Colorado
Movie-theater hotel adds vintage Airstreams, Quonset huts in San Luis Valley
Sleep in a treehouse, hike with llamas, stargaze and more summer whimsy
Pick your own flowers at these farms and garden centers in Colorado
Is city fishing safe? Yes, experts say, but there are updated guidelines to follow.
Big balloons will rise above Colorado’s heat this summer; watch ’em soar or take a ride
Here’s where to fish with kids near Denver
Summer fun
Biodegradable pickleballs, size-inclusive skorts made in Colorado and other sports gear we love
More women are playing padel than ever — and for good reason
Meet the Boulder dogs cast in this summer’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Gravel biking events are a hot commodity in Colorado this summer
Want to get off your phone? Learn blacksmithing or floral design at these Colorado classes and makerspaces.
Beyond Colorado
10 tree-house hotels in the U.S. for you to commune with nature in comfort
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