The Colorado Rockies picked up their fifth win of spring training in a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Ty Wigginton hit his first home run of the spring when led off the second inning. That gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead. In the previous inning, Jason Hammel allowed a home run to Lonnie Chisenhall, but answered right back in the bottom of the frame.
Dexter Fowler led off the bottom of the first with a walk and then advanced to second on a bad throw by pitcher Justin Masterson. Jonathan Herrera had a "productive out" with a sacrifice bunt to move Fowler to third. He scored on a pass ball while Troy Tulowitzki was at the plate. In the fourth inning, Todd Helton walked and moved to third on a Wigginton double. Ryan Spilborghs then singled Helton to home plate.
Fowler finished 2-for-2 with two hard hit doubles and a run scored. With the trust the Rockies have placed in him as the team's starting center fielder games like this give us hope that we'll see it repeated during the regular season.
Outside of the home run given up, Hammel went three innings and allowed five hits. According to Troy Renck, Tracy wants Hammel to do better when he is in two-strike situations. The rest of the pitching staff shut the Indians down. Huston Street, Matt Reynolds, Sean White, Matt Daley, Billy Buckner and Andrew Johnston limited Cleveland to four hits over the remaining six innings.
The Rockies host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday at 1:10 p.m. MT. Ubaldo Jimenez, who missed his last start due to an infected thumb, will face Ted Lilly.