Cron's 3-run homer in 7th lifts Rockies over Phillies, 6-5
DENVER (AP) — C.J. Cron hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Colorado Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 on Tuesday night.
Rockies starter Kyle Freeland agreed to a $64.5 million, five-year contract with his hometown team earlier in the day and left with the lead after five innings. He gave up two runs on six hits and struck out three.
The left-hander was able to celebrate when Colorado rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the seventh. Phillies reliever Seranthony Domínguez (1-1) issued a two-out walk to Charlie Blackmon and gave up a single to Kris Bryant. Cron connected off Jeurys Familia to put the Rockies back in front with his sixth home run of the season.
“Super pumped for him. He deserves it for what he’s done for this organization,” Cron said about Freeland. “He’s always taking the ball every five days and that’s pretty special of a pitcher. We were glad we were able to get those runs for him tonight.”
Justin Lawrence (1-0) got the win and Daniel Bard worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Kyle Schwarber homered and drove in three runs for the Phillies, and J.T. Realmuto had three hits. Philadelphia has lost three straight.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead at Coors Field on RBI singles by Bryce Harper in the first inning and Matt Vierling in the fourth. Colorado answered in the bottom of the fourth with three runs.
Cron drove in Blackmon with a sacrifice fly, Randal Grichuk tied it with a single and Elías Díaz put the Rockies ahead 3-2 with a single off starter Kyle Gibson.
“He still had us off balance pretty good. We got a few nice Coors hits — a couple bloopers, a couple balls through the infield,” Cron said. “I’m sure he was pretty frustrated out there. But hey, that’s baseball. And sometimes you get lucky like that.”
Schwarber’s two-run homer in the sixth off Ty Blach — his third of the season — put Philadelphia back ahead.
Gibson had the one tough inning but was in line for the win after allowing three runs in six innings. The Phillies’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.
“It’s tough to be too critical when it’s one inning that dominates the story, but I felt a lot better than last time out,” Gibson said. "I felt like we did a really good job of mixing pitches when we needed to. Feel like we did a good job of staying with the heater when we needed to.”
Schwarber’s RBI single in the eighth got Philadelphia within one.
“He hit a home run the other way and then a base hit for another RBI,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s encouraging.”
TRADING DAY
The Phillies made a minor deal, acquiring outfielder Dustin Peterson from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash. Peterson played in two games with the Atlanta Braves in 2018 and 17 with Detroit in 2019. He was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: SS Didi Gregorius exited with a bruised left hand after getting hit by a pitch in the second inning. He was checked out by a team trainer as he walked to first base and initially stayed in the game. But he was replaced in the fourth by pinch-hitter Johan Camargo. X-rays were negative.
Rockies: RHP Robert Stephenson and LHP Lucas Gilbreath were active for the first time this season. Both were placed on the COVID-19 injured list before opening day.
UP NEXT
Philadelphia RHP Zach Eflin (0-1, 4.50 ERA) faces RHP Germán Márquez (0-0, 3.97) on Wednesday to wrap up the three-game series.
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