Doyle's amazing catch comes at cost with fifth-inning departure

MILWAUKEE -- A night after making a sensational game-ending throw to cut down the potential tying run at third base, Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle flashed his high-level defensive skills again with a diving catch on the warning track early in the second inning of Saturday night’s contest against the Brewers at American Family Field.

But the sensational grab came at a cost. Doyle left in the fifth inning of a game that the Rockies would lose, 5-2, after experiencing pain in his left hand.

"I landed pretty rough on the warning track, and something kind of flared up along the tendon in my pinkie and the side of my hand,” said Doyle, who had his left hand heavily wrapped after the game. “I was having discomfort squeezing the bat, and it was getting worse and worse as the game went on. Just came to the conclusion to be safe rather than sorry and get treatment on it.”

Doyle said he doesn’t expect the injury to keep him out of the lineup for long.

“We didn’t get imaging done,” he said. “Just going to treat it and see how it feels tomorrow.”

With a runner on and no outs in the second, Sal Frelick laced a shot into the right-center-field gap that Doyle hauled in as he dove onto the warning track. Doyle crashed hard to the ground, seeming to land a bit awkwardly on his left side, but held onto the ball to rob the speedy Frelick of an extra-base hit and keep a run off the board for the NL Central-leading Brewers.

“It’s pretty hard out there. Not much forgiveness to it,” Doyle said of the surface at American Family Field. “It’s almost like concrete.”

Doyle stayed in the game and struck out looking in the top of third. He made a running catch of a fly ball hit by Brice Turang to end the fourth, but came out of the lineup when the Rockies took the field an inning later, replaced by Sam Hilliard, who hit a solo home run off Brewers reliever Jared Koenig in the eighth.

Doyle said he takes pride in his defense, whether it’s with his arm or glove.

“My defense has always been one of the strong suits of my game,” he said. “I work very hard at it and it shows.”

Manager Bud Black, speaking before Saturday’s game, was still raving about Doyle’s throw that preserved the victory over the Brewers the night before.

“I think that all good defenders want that situation. They want that time to shine,” Black said. “It’s not unlike in other competitive sports, like the guy who wants the last shot in basketball or the wide receiver in football who wants his number called.”

Doyle’s throw stands out for Black, who has been around the game for more than four decades as a player and manager.

“I’ve been at this a while. But that was outstanding,” Black said. “The pinch-runner could really run. The depth of the fly ball, it wasn’t shallow. The throw was on a line. He was flat-footed and it was still a bullet. I thought he was going to bounce it and the guy was going to be safe. Then all of a sudden, I saw the ball half way there and I see that ball’s going to get there in the air. It was spectacular.”

The diving grab on Saturday also impressed Black.

“He’s up there as far as his extreme desire to make plays and there’s another example of that tonight,” Black said.

Doyle’s contributions haven’t been limited to defense. The 26-year-old second-year player has 22 homers and 66 RBIs in 136 games.

“We’ve talked repeatedly about the adjustments that he’s made offensively,” Black said. “Granted, he’s a little bit older, but he’s just experiencing the big leagues in his second full season. It projects to a really solid career.”

The Rockies fell behind early on Saturday when Ty Blach (3-8) surrendered back-to-back home runs to Willy Adames and Gary Sánchez in the first. William Contreras hit a two-run homer off Blach in the third.

Ryan McMahon put the Rockies on the board with a lead-off homer in the fourth off Tobias Myers (7-5). Milwaukee added a run in the fourth on Joey Ortiz’s run-scoring double, with the run being charged to Blach, who gave up six hits and five runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Reliever Jaden Hill, a second-round pick in the 2021 Draft and Colorado's No. 20 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, made his Major League debut, pitching a scoreless inning.

“You cannot deny the talent. You cannot deny the arm,” Black said. “I’ve seen many a pitcher get to the big leagues and rise to the occasion. Hopefully, that’s the case with Jaden.”