Denver, CO
Rockies rattle Diamondbacks’ playoff hopes with 8-2 victory at Coors Field
Spoiler alert: Should the Diamondbacks fall out of the wild-card playoff race, they might point to this September series with the Rockies.
Last year’s surprise National League pennant winner has owned the Rockies for the last two seasons. But these September Rockies aren’t those Rockies.
They proved it again Tuesday night with an 8-2 romp over the D-backs at Coors Field. Colorado won Game 1 of the series, 3-2, on Monday night. The Rockies might still be roadkill away from LoDo, but they’re tough to beat at Coors, where they have a 19-12 record since July 4.
The victory was the 535th for manager Bud Black, who bypassed Clint Hurdle for the most in Rockies history.
“I’ve been a part of (milestones) before … it’s great,” Black said after veteran players Charlie Blackmon, Kyle Freeland, and German Marquez doused him with a celebratory beer-and-shaving-cream shower. “It’s great. It’s part of what makes us love the game. And when it’s over for all of us, it’s moments like this that you remember.”
Colorado’s formula Tuesday night included an excellent start from right-hander Ryan Feltner, home runs from Ezequiel Tovar and Hunter Goodman, and timely hitting up and down the order. Colorado hit 5 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
Arizona entered the night 8-3 in its last 11 games vs. the Rockies, and 18-6 in its last 24 dating back to the start of the 2023 season. But after losing two straight at Coors, they are now tied with the Mets for the NL’s final wild-card playoff spot.
Feltner, his fastball humming, pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on five hits. He struck out only two but got a lot of weak contact, and Colorado’s defense backed him up with stellar play.
“I was on the same page with ‘Stahls’ all night, and we had great defense all night,” said Feltner, referring to veteran catch Jacob Stallings. “Just being able to trust Stahlings back there, and trusting the defense, it just frees me up. All of my pitches were working tonight and I just kept trying to pound the zone.”
Second baseman Brendan Rodgers fed Tovar at short to turn a sweet double play to end the sixth, and center fielder Brenton Doyle, in the hunt for his second straight Gold Glove, made a running catch in center field to rob Eugenio Suarez of extra bases in the seventh.
“It’s incredible,” Feltner said. “He floated like 20 feet in the air, it looked like from the pitcher’s mound.”
Feltner is turning the corner. Since July 2, he’s posted a 3.25 ERA, with a 1.26 WHIP and a .230 batting average against. Plus, the Rockies have won in each of his last five starts.
“The conviction with the fastball is key,” Black said. “When a pitcher believes in his fastball, and you have a good fastball, it makes the fastball better.
“It’s still a fastball of 93-94-95-96, and he’s had it all year. But for whatever reason, his conviction with his fastball for the past month makes it better. He wills it to good spots. He wills it to get outs.”
Still, Feltner had not won a decision at Coors since Aug. 9, 2022, vs. the Cardinals, an unwanted franchise record of 21 consecutive starts without a win at home. He was aware of the history, but not concerned.
“It doesn’t matter to me, and I don’t look into that stuff,” he said. “I just go out there to try and win the game.”
Second baseman Brendan Rodgers and shortstop Tovar turned a sweet double play to end the sixth, and center fielder Brenton Doyle made a running catch in center field to rob Eugenio Suarez of extra bases in the seventh.
The D-backs scored their only run off Feltner in the fourth, combining a leadoff double by Pavin Smith, a sacrifice bunt by Jake McCarthy and a groundout by Suarez.
Tovar (3 for 5, two RBIs) continues to prove he’s one of baseball’s best shortstops. He led off the third with a homer off Jordan Montgomery for his team-leading 25th long ball of the season. Tovar has also hit 43 doubles, the most by a shortstop in franchise history, the second-most in the NL, and the most by a Rockie since Nolan Arenado swatted 43 in 2017. The last Rockies player who had more than 43 doubles in a season was Matt Holliday, who had 50 in 2007.
In the seventh, Goodman, serving as the designated hitter instead of catching, hit a two-out, 441-foot solo blast to center off lefty reliever Blake Walston. It was Goodman’s second straight game with a homer, his fourth of the current homestand, and 13th of the season.
Colorado strung together three hits off Montgomery to take a 2-0 lead in the third. Michael Toglia led off with a soft double into no man’s land in shallow right field and scored on Stallings’ double to left. Jordan Beck (2 for 3) drove in Stallings with a two-out double to left.
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Originally Published:
DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
For the first time in the team’s history, Altitude Sports is broadcasting Denver Nuggets home games in Spanish. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment announced it has contracted a team to broadcast its games in Spanish for the playoffs.
“I think that is what the public wanted,” said Ivan De La Garza, producer for the broadcast team.
A team of three people, two commentators and a producer, sit in a press box at the top of Ball Arena. Their commentary is then synced with the traditional Altitude broadcast video and shared on the Altitude Plus application.
“With the Nuggets winning in the last five years, there is a tremendous amount of following from Latino people trying to listen to and watch the games in Spanish,” said Andres Casas, color commentator for the broadcast.
Casas said he strives to bring the same energy fans get during soccer broadcasts into the basketball broadcasts.
“That excitement that gets you. We want people to feel they are at the game,” Casas said.
“It has been so amazing to be a part of the Spanish broadcast for the Nuggets. I have been a fan of the Nuggets for my whole life,” said Jena Garcia, play-by-play commentator.
Garcia said it has been a dream come true to help bring this broadcast to her community.
“I’ve always desired to hear a Spanish broadcast, just as a fan. To be a part of it is just incredible,” Garcia said.
Those working in the broadcast said they are honored to help expand the reach of the Nuggets and sports in accessing diverse communities.
“We love sports. We are passionate, we are loud. We like to get together and enjoy sports,” De La Garza said.
“The Nuggets have a huge following, especially on the Spanish side. So, it is great for them to be able to listen to what is going on, game by game, especially into the playoffs,” Casas said.
“It is just another step of access that they are getting to be a fan of basketball,” Garcia said.
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