In what was a close 2-0 game in the bottom of the ninth for the Colorado Rockies, their closer, Huston Street gave up two solo homers (Gerardo Parra, Chris Young) to tie the game and blow his first save of the season. When all was said and done, a bloop single to right field by Justin Upton in the bottom of the 11th scored the winning run (Chris Young blistered a ball to center for a double) to end the game, 3-2.
While it would be easy to place the blame for this loss on Huston Street, he was bound to blow a save at some point. And let's not forget that the Rockies were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. In the first inning, Dexter Fowler and Jonathan Herrera had back-to-back singles, advanced to second and third on a Carlos Gonzalez ground out and then Fowler was out at home on a fielder's choice hit into by Troy Tulowitzki. Todd Helton popped out to end the inning.
In the top of the second inning, Seth Smith led off with a double and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Ian Stewart walked, placing runners on first and third. Jose Morales came up for the next at-bat and drove in Smith om a sacrifice fly. However, Ian Stewart was tagged out on second on the play. Hamel then struck out to end the inning.
The Rockies struck again in the fourth inning. Todd Helton hit his 535th career double (moving ahead of Lou Gehrig for 31st all-time), to start the inning and then scored on a Jose Morales single to center. Kennedy left after the sixth inning, having allowed just two runs in six innings.
Hammel shut out the Diamondbacks for seven innings, allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four. He ran into trouble in the first and sixth innings. In the former, Ian Stewart committed a throwing error to allow leadoff batter Chris Young to reach first. Young then stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. He then walked two batters to load the bases, but Melvin Mora ground out to end the inning. In the sixth inning, Melvin Mora singled and then reached third, but Gerardo Parra struck out to end the inning.
Rafael Betancourt came out for the eighth and struck out two in the eighth. However, twice Betancourt had his foot on the mound and went to his mouth. The umpire followed the rules and called two balls.
The Rockies (18-11) head to San Francisco for a three-game set with the Giants, starting Friday. First game is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. MT. Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Cain will duel.