Toglia wows with incredible robbery in return to Majors

ST. LOUIS -- Thursday night, Michael Toglia and the Rockies offered evidence they can leap back from gut punches.

Toglia, in his first game back after a five-plus weeks at Triple-A Albuquerque, reached above the right-field wall to snatch a potential fifth-inning leadoff home run from Matt Carpenter. It was the key play, in terms of impact and message, as the Rockies ended their losing streak at five with a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

“That’s one of the best catches I’ve ever had -- that’s actually the best I’ve ever had in the outfield,” Toglia said. “So I’m logging that one in my personal highlight reel.”

The catch helped Cal Quantrill (5-4) complete five innings scoreless despite his assessment that “I wasn’t very good,” and contributed to the Rockies’ gritting out the result despite managing just four hits -- their fewest in a victory this season.

It was lost on none of the Rockies (22-40) that after a pair of relievers played a role in Wednesday’s implosion in the eighth and ninth of a 12-7 home loss to the Reds, the duo of Jalen Beeks (1 2/3 perfect innings) and Tyler Kinley (secured the save with a strikeout of Nolan Gorman after allowing a hit to Paul Goldschmidt) completed the bounce-back performance.

“This one feels good, especially after yesterday’s game,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “You guys ask me all the time about the resiliency of this team -- the resolve. You saw it tonight.

“This team has a lot of grit -- and a lot of stomach, if you know what I mean.”

Toglia, 25, had to come back from a gut punch to be a key figure Thursday.

When optioned on April 29, the switch-hitter was 5-for-47 with four home runs, meaning his .106 batting average was MLB’s lowest for a player with that many homers.

During his time in Albuquerque, Toglia slashed .277/.363/.571 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs. His chance came when the Rockies officially placed Kris Bryant on the 10-day injured list on Thursday with a left rib contusion.

He singled to set up Charlie Blackmon’s RBI fielder’s choice in the third, and delivered an RBI groundout -- which could have been a hit if not for a nice fielding play by the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt -- in the two-run fifth against Cards starter Sonny Gray.

A first-round Rockies pick out of UCLA in 2019, Toglia carried the tag of a potential impact player at first base. But Bryant plays there when healthy and Elehuris Montero is receiving a long look. Upon arriving at Busch on Thursday, Toglia said he concentrated on right field while at Albuquerque.

“It’s a pretty crazy coincidence that we had that talk,” said Toglia, who moved to his natural position for the ninth, as Greg Jones, also called up on Thursday, made his Major League debut in right field.

Toglia said he thought Carpenter’s fly was “way gone,” but soon he figured he could stop it from being gone at all. After Toglia showed that he had the ball, he smiled toward the dugout. Immediately, center fielder Brenton Doyle was giving him a half-hug and chest bump.

“He [Doyle] has so much range, he was over there pretty much as I caught it,” Toglia said.

Doyle said, “I’ve played with Mike since High A. He’s going to grind it out -- whatever he needs to do to stay up here. I’m always rooting for him.”

Some of the Rockies’ pain this season comes from turning over most of the diamond to younger players over the last two-plus seasons. But if players like Toglia enjoy liftoff -- not just for a game-deciding catch, but for their careers -- struggle can lead to delight.

“I’m looking at it as fresh,” Toglia said. “Obviously, I had the 40-ish bats before, but I’m looking at today as Opening Day. How do I feel, what am I doing, how can I help the team? It doesn’t matter what my first stint looked like.”