Colorado Rockies pitcher Greg Reynolds returned to the majors after a two-year absence on Saturday day when he had to fill in for injured ace Ubaldo Jimenez. While Reynolds was never going to equal Jimenez on the mound, the former No. 2 overall pick pitched well enough to help the Rockies secure a 6-4 victory.
Though he wound up with a no-decision, Reynolds pitched six innings, giving the bullpen some much needed off-time after Friday's extra-innings game. Reynolds had a bit of trouble in the second inning when he allowed a two-run home run to Ryan Doumit to tie the game at two, but it was mostly smooth sailing after that. After escaping the third inning in which he allowed back-to-back walks at one point, Reynolds put together back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth. In his final inning of work, Reynolds surrendered an Andrew McCutchen single, but then had Lyle Overbay hit into an inning-ending double play. Reynolds finished the game with six innings pitched, two runs allowed on three hits and two walks and two strikeouts.
The Rockies scored their runs in the first, third, sixth and eighth innings. Dexter Fowler scored the first run of the game when he walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error and then finally crossed home plate on a Carlos Gonzalez double play grounder. Fowler and Gonzalez connected again with the latter knocking the former in on a single. Seth Smith put the Rockies up, 3-2, in the sixth when he hit his first home run of the season. But reliever Matt Belisle coughed the lead up in the bottom of the seventh.
But all was not lost, as Ty Wigginton turned hero in the eighth inning. Jonathan Herrera collected his third walk of the game to start the inning and moved to second on a Carlos Gonzalez single. Troy Tulowitzki and Seth Smith both struck out swinging, but Jose Lopez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Wigginton then doubled down the left field line, getting it past Pedro Alvarez to score the bases. The Rockies led, 6-3, over the Pirates.
Rafael Betancourt surrendered a leadoff home run in the eighth to Jose Tabata, but ended the bleeding there. In the ninth, Matt Lindstrom closed out the game because Huston Street pitched three innings on Friday. He picked up his first Rockies save when Steve Pearce hit into a game-ending double play. Matt Belisle picked up the win, while Jose Veras took the loss.
The Rockies (5-2) and the Pirates (5-4) complete the four-game series on Sunday afternoon at 11:35 a.m. MT.