Rockies pounce at plate in opening win

MIAMI -- The Rockies, namely David Dahl, made Marlins right-hander Jose Urena hurt on Opening Day. More importantly, the Rockies made him work en route to taking the season opener, 6-3, on Thursday afternoon at Marlins Park.

The Rockies delivered nine hits, including a Trevor Story home run, in 4 2/3 innings during which Urena had to chuck 94 pitches. The offense backed lefty Kyle Freeland, who dominated his first career Opening Day start by striking out five in seven innings and limiting the Marlins to two hits, including JT Riddle’s pinch-hit homer.

“We feel like we’re a very long and deep lineup, and we feel like there are no outs, really -- no easy outs,” Story said.

Now, it’s possible that the first of Dahl’s three hits off Urena -- a comebacker that struck the pitcher’s left thigh -- had an effect the rest of the way. Urena’s fastball reached 95 mph early; it dipped afterward, and he increased his use of offspeed pitches.

“I’m glad he’s OK -- you never like to see anyone get injured, but I was just trying to stay up the middle and battle with two strikes there,” said Dahl, who celebrated his first Opening Day with a career-high-tying three hits.

Added Urena: “It was getting a little tight. But besides that, we tried to keep doing our thing. I tried to compete on it.”

For a Rockies team that went into self-examination of its offense after suffering a three-game sweep at the hands of the Brewers in last year’s National League Division Series, it was a wake-from-an-October-nightmare start.

“You’ve got to string hits together,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “That’s what we talk about offensively. You hear me talk about it, and we talk about it inside the walls of this room about trying to be relentless as possible every at-bat.

“Today, we did a nice job of having quality at-bats throughout the game. There weren’t really a whole lot of at-bats that were poor. That’s a good sign.”

Last year, Nolan Arenado led the NL in home runs with 38 and Story, whose towering two-out fly landed in the left-field porch with two out in the fifth inning, was second with 37. Nobody wants to move away from that. But the Rockies want more of what happened in the fourth and fifth innings Thursday.

Arenado led off the fourth with a double, then the Rockies put balls in play and capitalized on poor defense. Miguel Rojas’ high throw let Story reach. Dahl singled in a run, and Ryan McMahon’s single produced two runs when Lewis Brinson let the ball skid beneath his glove for a two-base error. Chris Iannetta’s double made it 4-0.

Two were out in the fifth, but the Rockies made Urena throw 15 more pitches. One was Story’s homer, another a Dahl double on a 3-0, 92.8 mph two-seam fastball, and the third another double on the seventh pitch of Ian Desmond's at-bat. That was it for Urena.

The offense was effective even though the top three hitters -- Charlie Blackmon, Daniel Murphy and Arenado -- went a combined 1-for-15, yet it was more than enough.

“You always want to come through, no matter what,” McMahon said. “If Charlie’s 5-for-5, I’m still going to try to come through in my at-bat. That’s how this team is built. It doesn’t have to be Charlie, Murphy, Nolan, Story. Dahl, ‘Des,’ myself can pick up that slack.”

SOUND SMART
Story gave the Rockies a homer in their 11th straight Opening Day game to surpass the Reds, who did it in 10 straight (1963-72). According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Yankees hold the Majors mark with 14 (1999-2012) and the Rockies’ active streak is tied for second with the Rangers ('02-12). Additionally, Story’s three Opening Day homers tie him for the club record, with Arenado, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and Vinny Castilla.

LIVE WITH IT. GET USED TO IT.
No matter how snarky the social media posts become when things go wrong, the Rockies are going to be aggressive on the bases.

In the third inning, Iannetta attempted to advance from second on Blackmon’s fly to right field, but he was beaten by a laser throw from the Marlins’ Garrett Cooper for a double play.

Rockies manager Bud Black says the club will be aggressive, and that has been his history. He was on the coaching staff of Angels manager Mike Scioscia, whose 2002 team won the World Series while being among the league leaders in outs on the bases and even outs at the plate. That philosophy, that outs on the bases are worthwhile because they’re a sign of aggressive baserunning, is what Black brought to Colorado.

Last year, for example, the Rockies were third in the NL in advancing from first to third and from second to home, on singles in both cases. Those plays add up. Of course, they also led the NL in outs at third base, but Black will take that. You don’t get to third base if you don’t run to third base.

UP NEXT
Right-hander German Marquez enters his start on Friday against the Marlins with lofty projections. For example, the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA card projects that Marquez’s ERA will drop by a half-run -- 3.77 in 2018 to 3.27. Miami will counter with Trevor Richards. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. MT.