Rockies' youth aiming to regroup after being 'outplayed' in finale

PHOENIX -- After his club dropped the first two games of the series at Chase Field by one run apiece in disappointing late-game fashion, Rockies manager Bud Black spoke prior to Wednesday’s finale about the value in these trying experiences for young players.

“You always want to win. That’s the goal no matter what,” Black said. “For me, even going back to Spring Training games, or April games or September games, the goal is to win and learn how to win in those close games. And you learn that by going through these games and as a group, coaches and players, talking about how to do it. For me, the intrinsic part of coaching is those conversations, having those moments with players.

“For us coaches, watching players develop and grow and learning through tough situations, and how you respond and how you come back and, in a way, become unbreakable. That’s something I cherish.”

To that end, the series finale could not have started worse for rookie right-hander Tanner Gordon and Co., as the D-backs took advantage of three early errors to sweep the Rockies with an 11-4 victory, Arizona’s 18th in its last 21 games.

The D-backs grabbed a 3-0 lead on Gordon before an out was recorded in the first, and they had yet to hit a ball in the air. Corbin Carroll drew a leadoff walk, Tuesday hero Brandon McCarthy followed with a ground-ball single and Joc Pederson bounced a double into the right-field corner.

When first baseman Michael Toglia cut off the relay throw home, he saw Pederson had rounded second too far and tried to throw behind him. The throw sailed wide of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and rolled all the way to the left-field wall, allowing Pederson to trot home without a throw.

That was only the sixth error of the season for Toglia, who has drawn praise from Black for his play since he was recalled in June.

“Since June 6 when he came back, he’s started every game and he’s played every inning,” Black said. “And I think we’ve seen statistical performance get better. The batting average is up, the on-base is up, he’s hit his homers, playing Gold Glove-caliber defense -- so there’s been growth.

“He’s made great strides, and I think if he continues at this pace of performance for the rest of this season and into next season, we’ve got a good player on our hands.”

The next D-backs batter, Josh Bell, appeared to ground out back to the mound for the first out of the inning, but catcher’s interference was called on Jacob Stallings for the Rockies’ second error, giving Bell first base. Arizona would eventually load the bases with two outs, Gordon walked nine-hole hitter Geraldo Perdomo for a fourth run and Black went to the bullpen after just two-thirds of an inning.

The D-backs tacked on another run against Peter Lambert in the second thanks to Colorado’s third error of the game. With Bell going first to third on a single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., right fielder Sam Hilliard’s throw got past third baseman Aaron Schunk. The ball ricocheted hard right back to Schunk, but he didn’t realize Bell had immediately broken for home -- the hesitation allowed Bell to score.

Despite falling behind 5-0 early, the Rockies managed three runs on five hits against Jordan Montgomery to make it a 6-3 game, but a Eugenio Suárez grand slam off Riley Pint in the sixth put to bed any thoughts of a comeback. Pint had walked two, hit two batters and had clearly lost the feel for his fastball, and Suárez was ready for a first-pitch slider.

The Rockies hit a franchise-record-tying four batters on Wednesday.

“Obviously they outplayed us, and we shot ourselves in the foot a number of times. I think that’s the way to look at it,” Black said. “We didn’t play a very clean game. Early in the game defensively and the pitching wasn’t crisp all day long.”

After losing two heartbreakers and a clunker on the road, the Rockies have Thursday off before returning to action Friday at Coors Field, where they have won four of their last five series. Black’s crew will try to get back on track and build some momentum down the stretch.

“We’ve got to continue to go out there with our group, and we’ve got some younger players and some [more] younger players, like I’ve mentioned many times, potentially coming,” Black said. “And it’s [important] for these guys to finish strong these last six weeks.”