Denver, CO
Rockies earn MLB’s first win on a pitch-clock violation in wild night at Coors Field
This ballpark has had its share of crazy nights. Put this one near the top of the list.
Ryan McMahon’s based-loaded walk, which ended with a pitch-clock violation, completed a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to deliver the Colorado Rockies an 8-7 victory against the Washington Nationals in front of 34,509 at Coors Field.
It is the first walk-off win via the rule in MLB history. This is the second season with a pitch clock, and a ball is awarded when the pitcher does not throw in time. McMahon had a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, but Washington closer ended an ignominious outing with the Nationals’ final gaffe in a night full of them.
“Was that the first one? I hadn’t seen that before,” McMahon said. “Honestly, you hate to see a game end that way, but I’m happy it worked out in our favor.
“It’s only fitting that we get the first shot-clock violation to win a game.”
Finnegan leads the majors with nine pitch-clock violations this season. He’s also third in saves with 21, but did not record an out Saturday night against Colorado.
“Those situations, it just can’t happen. It can’t happen,” Finnegan said. “Just immediately felt awful about letting the team down in that big spot there. To lose the game in that way, it just can’t happen.”
Colorado trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth inning after the bullpen yielded two runs in both the seventh and eighth. McMahon homered in the eighth to give the Rockies a chance in the ninth.
They knocked around Finnegan with four straight singles to tie the game before McMahon worked the walk-off walk.
“That’s against a guy who’s having a really good year and has really good stuff,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Just a lot of really good at-bats. We squared the ball up against a guy that’s been really good. (That was) quality.”
Cal Quantrill pitched six solid innings in the win. Brendan Rodgers had one of the team’s three home runs in his return from injury.
Quantrill continued to be Colorado’s most effective pitcher this season. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings. Quantrill finished with six straight outs after yielding a home run to CJ Abrams to lead off the fifth inning.
That is Quantrill’s 10th quality start of the season. He’s tied for the second-most in the National League, behind Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler and San Francisco’s Logan Webb.
“He battled again,” Black said. “They seemed to have an idea about what to do with his split-finger (fastball), but he continued to make pitches. He’s a pitcher’s pitcher.”
Quantrill left with a 4-3 lead. His chances of collecting a seventh win were gone before the Rockies recorded another out in the seventh.
Jake Bird and Justin Lawrence combined to allow four runs in relief, the last two coming on Luis Garcia Jr.’s homer.
Rodgers celebrated his return from a strained hamstring with a three-run blast in the bottom of the third inning to give Colorado a 4-2 advantage. Mitchell Parker grooved a first-pitch fastball to Rodgers, and the Colorado second baseman sent it 436 feet into the second row of seats in center field section next to the pine trees for his fourth homer of the year.
Hunter Goodman greeted Washington relief pitcher Jacob Barnes with a 446-foot home run deep into the left-field seats to lead off the seventh inning and draw the Rockies back even at 5-5. Goodman has found a way to unlock his power at the MLB level this month.
Goodman now has five home runs in his past eight games after hitting three in his first 45 contests with the Rockies. He had 70 home runs in the minors over the past two seasons.
Before Finnegan’s violation, the Nationals also ran into four outs — three caught stealings by catcher Jacob Stallings — and gave away another on a weirdly-timed bunt.
The Nationals gave them an opening, and then the Rockies earned it. They won for just the time sixth time in 21 games this month.
“We’ve been punched in the mouth a couple times as a team, but we keep coming,” McMahon said. “And we’re just going to continue to do that.”
Bird, Bouchard injured. Colorado lost a pair of players during the game to injuries. Bird faced three batters before leaving with groin tightness. Sean Bouchard left with back soreness after trying to bend over and collect a ball in the right-center gap in the third inning.
Kitchen recalled. The Rockies recalled Austin Kitchen before the game Saturday. It’s his first time on a major-league roster. He won a College World Series at Coastal Carolina but was not drafted. He spent a year pitching for the Steel City Slammin’ Sammies in a four-team independent league in 2020 before signing with the Rockies in 2021. The Rockies designated relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb (0-0, 9.00 ERA in nine innings) for assignment to make room for Kitchen.
Sunday’s pitching matchup
Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (5-6, 3.24 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 13.21 ERA)
1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Freeland will make his first start for the Rockies since April 14, having missed more than two months with a left elbow strain. The 31-year-old Freeland made three rehab starts at Class AAA for Albuquerque, allowing three runs over 10 innings. Freeland was Colorado’s opening-day starter. He yielded 25 runs (23 earned) in his four starts before the injury, including 10 on opening night.
Irvin, 27, is in his second year in the Nationals’ rotation. He yielded four runs on eight hits and four walks against Arizona last time out, but before that reeled off a string of five straight strong starts — just five runs allowed total with 31 strikeouts across 31 2/3 innings. He has faced Colorado once in his brief MLB career, allowing four runs in six innings July 26, 2003.
Pitching probables
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Rockies TBD at Houston TBD, 6:10 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies TBD at Houston TBD, 12:10 p.m.
Denver, CO
Denver Salvation Army needs more bell ringers to support the community
The Salvation Army provides shelter, meals, and support for families in need in our community every day, but they need help to raise those donations.
They have put out a call for paid and volunteer bell ringers to collect donations vital to support their programs and services.
All of the donations raised go to serve the Denver community. Funds go to serve families struggling to feed their children or provide gifts during the holidays as well as disaster services and much more for the residents of the Denver metro area.
Bell ringers get to pick their hours and location, and friends and families are encouraged to volunteer together and give back to the community.
Those interested in volunteering can sign up online at www.registertoring.com. To find a paid bell ringer position, applicants can visit the Salvation Corps nearest to their neighborhood.
A listing of all Denver area Corps locations is available at visiting.denver.salvationarmy.org. Applicants must be 18 or over to have a paid bell ringing position.
Denver, CO
Colorado weather: White Christmas hopes dwindling in Denver
Denver residents wishing for a snowy Christmas this year could be disappointed, as forecasters say the metro area can look forward to a mild weekend followed by a cool, sunny week.
Temperatures are expected to reach highs in the low 60s this weekend, with clouds encroaching Sunday and overnight lows in the mid 30s, according to the National Weather Service.
Highs of 54 and 53 are forecast Monday and Tuesday, falling to 49 on Christmas, with some clouds.
A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 11 p.m. remains Wednesday night, with more showers possible Thursday and Friday in the metro area.
Light snow will likely fall in the mountains Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the NWS reports.
Denver, CO
Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood shines early, Colorado stars help fend off Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Colorado Avalanche looked tired after one period Friday night, but one of their new goaltenders kept them afloat until the rest of the club found enough energy to grind out a win.
That script has been a familiar one during the toughest stretch of schedule the Avs have faced, and these points might prove to be incredibly valuable. Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves, the Avalanche rebounded to fend off the Anaheim Ducks, 4-2, at Honda Center.
“After the first 20 (minutes), we weren’t happy with anything,” Wedgewood said. “A couple guys voiced their opinions on what could be done better and we turned the tide. You can’t accept the first period at this level.
“You put this jersey on and you expect to win every night, right? You have this squad, this team and ever since I got here, I put the jersey on and I expect two points. We expect two points. It’s the standard you have to hold ourselves to.”
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, while Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin had two points each. Wedgewood, along with Mackenzie Blackwood, has repeatedly provided a level of consistent goaltending the club had been lacking.
The overall play for the Avs is not near its peak, and a season full of injuries combined with a stretch of 13 road games in the past 17 contests has likely played a part in that. But they have now won six of eight, and are a season-high five games better than .500 (20-15-0).
“You chip it in different ways,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We get a power-play goal, a 5-on-5 goal, a shorthanded goal, then the guys did a nice job with the empty net. I thought the penalty kill was great.
“But probably the difference in this game because of what we gave up — which was too much — was Wedgewood. I thought he was outstanding.”
This game may have turned on a bad-luck play … for the Avs. Anaheim defenseman Olen Zellweger clipped MacKinnon in the face with his stick and was sent to the penalty box for high sticking. The officials conferred and decided to wipe away the infraction. It looked from multiple replay angles that MacKinnon was hit by the puck after Keaton Middleton tried to clear it out of danger, but a zoomed-out angle showed that Zellweger clearly got the reigning MVP ahead of the puck.
So, with the Avs down a goal and trying to kill off a penalty, the hockey gods evened out the fortune. Zellweger stumbled near the top of the Anaheim offensive zone, which allowed Logan O’Connor to spring Parker Kelly for a breakaway and a shorthanded goal at 6:40 of the second. It was Kelly’s third goal of the season and Colorado’s second of the year while shorthanded.
Nichushkin put the Avalanche in front midway through the second. Anaheim goalie John Gibson didn’t handle a Makar shot cleanly, and Nichushkin was waiting at the doorstep for one of the easiest goals he’s going to score. It was his 10th of the season in just 18 games played.
Colorado’s power play came to California mired in a 5-for-48 slump, but the Avs scored twice with the extra man Thursday night in San Jose and struck again for an insurance goal early in the third against Anaheim. MacKinnon started the play with a rare dump-in from the neutral zone. Rantanen kept the Ducks’ clearing attempt in the offensive zone, and then MacKinnon found Makar with a cross-ice pass for the defenseman’s 10th goal of the year at 3:30 of the third.
MacKinnon added an empty-net goal, and pushed his NHL-leading point total to 55 in 35 games.
The Avalanche survived the first period, but only because Wedgewood was stellar. Colorado looked like a team playing on the road for the 13th time in 17 games, and like a club playing for the second straight night against a rested team. Anaheim had nearly 80% of the expected goals and seven of the eight high-danger chances in the opening 20 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick.
Beyond Kelly’s goal, the Avs’ penalty kill has also surged since completing the double goaltending switch. Colorado killed off five Anaheim power plays in this one, including one in the final four minutes. The Avs are now 20 for 21 on the kill since swapping Alexandar Georgiev for Blackwood.
“When we made the goalie switches, you see where our penalty kill is going,” Bednar said. “The analytics have been good all year. I’m not putting it on our past goaltending, because that’s not fair, either, but goalies have their strengths and weaknesses and it seems like we’ve got a couple guys here now that are really in tune with our penalty kill.
“We’re getting the saves we need. We’re getting the whistles we need. They’ve just been really sharp.”
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