Gray puts stop to run frenzy at Coors

DENVER -- Breaking news: Good pitching is actually possible at Coors Field.

Until a couple of weeks ago, that was old news, with solid starting pitching having led to postseason trips the last two seasons. Then the last couple of homestands happened. Over the previous nine games, Rockies starters had a 7.71 ERA. In the last five, the Rockies became the first team since the modern Major League era began in 1900 to score at least eight runs and give up at least eight runs in five straight games.

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But Saturday night, righty Jon Gray and his relief ignored those numbers and held down a strong Dodgers lineup in a 5-3 victory at Coors Field. It was the second straight win for the Rockies, after 12 straight losses to Los Angeles.

The Rockies are second in the National League West, but 11 games behind the Dodgers.

“It was a rough stretch -- we know that,” said Gray (9-5), who struck out eight and held the Dodgers to three runs (two earned) in 6 2/3 innings. “We weren’t really picking up the offense at all. They were scoring runs, too.

“I feel like it’s just [the starters’] time to step up for the team and really give our best -- just grinding, any way possible, and find a way to shut down big innings.”

Struggling against the Dodgers was vexing, but Coors turning against its own pitchers, or at least the specter of being swallowed by the home park, has been a problem since the park opened in 1995.

Homegrown pitching emerged as the answer. Since the start of the 2017 season, no pitcher who had ever played for another Major League team had started for the Rockies. Chi Chi Gonzalez, a former Ranger, broke the streak by starting Wednesday's loss at San Francisco. He will make his second Rockies start in Sunday's series finale.

But the crazy recent games were the type to raise questions. Whether it’s the hitter-friendly composition of the baseball, which has been the talk of the game, or summer air in Denver, games took an old-fashioned turn. Would these issues seep into the heads of the pitchers?

Before Saturday’s game, manager Bud Black said the Rockies have never avoided the issue.

“That’s something we talk about -- not only now, but offseason, Spring Training -- to our pitchers, about the certain types of pitchers that we want to be part of our pitching staff,” Black said. “The most important thing is to win the game -- regardless if it’s a 1-0 game or games we’ve seen lately. In most cases, if you pitch well to fundamental pitching principles, you give yourself a better chance to outpitch the other team.”

Gray displayed his best breaking ball of the season, and averaged 97.2 mph (with a max of 98.8) on his four-seam fastball. He caught a break in the fifth. With one run in and two on, first baseman Mark Reynolds made a leaping snatch of Cody Bellinger’s liner. Gray left with two on in the seventh, but Jairo Díaz fanned Justin Turner, and Bryan Shaw and Wade Davis (12 saves) each fanned two in the eighth and ninth, respectively.

Black shed light on Gray.

“I said, ‘Jon, you should be proud of the way the season has gone … I’m looking forward to the second half for you,’” Black said.

It was a welcome normal game, but the few maddening events happened to Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw.

Charlie Blackmon’s two-run shot in the third inning was, according to respected scouting and statistics service Inside Edge, the first homer a lefty had hit off Kershaw in his regular-season career. The only other time it happened was in the 2014 NL Division Series, a three-run homer from Matt Adams that gave the Cardinals the clinch.

The Rockies took advantage of an error on Dodgers second baseman Max Muncy in a three-run fifth that featured a two-run single to the right side, against a shifted infield, from little-used Mark Reynolds.

After a period when gargantuan hitting performances and home runs were erased by feats from other teams, Reynolds was glad that Gray made his bouncer count.

“It was actually a normal baseball game tonight,” Reynolds said. “The Padres series and the Dodgers series, it’s like Little League out there. Jon did an awesome job for us tonight.

“I’m sure it’s a big confidence-booster for him and the team moving forward.”