SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Ian Desmond hopes the feeling the Rockies’ offense fostered in the fourth inning of a 6-3 victory over the Athletics on Monday afternoon happens long after the frame’s big hit -- Desmond’s three-run homer -- is forgotten.

Desmond had the homer but spread the praise among Daniel Murphy, Trevor Story and David Dahl

“Murphy started 0-2, grinded that at-bat [for a single],” Desmond said. “ ‘Sto’ had a good at-bat. I hit the homer that at-bat, and then Dahl had a good at-bat. It’s just that continual wearing down of the other team.

“We’re going to do that a lot this year.”

Manager Bud Black’s batting order Monday would have been competitive for a regular-season game, and it made Athletics lefty Brett Anderson labor to the tune of 69 pitches in 3 1/3 innings. Double-play grounders from Murphy in the first and Dahl in the second spoiled possible scoring chances. But the way the Rockies worked counts and stayed competitive was an encouraging sign for a team that made the postseason last season even though the offense had long lapses of production.

The true evaluation will come during the regular season -- whether the Rockies produce over a long period or at least keep droughts short. But for March 11, manager Bud Black thought it was a decent performance on a day of spitting rain.

“I thought we had better swings today,” Black said. “Even though Charlie [Blackmon] had nothing to show for it, just a lot of foul balls. Desi had a big swing. Murphy had a good at-bat for a base hit. It’s coming together a little bit. We’ve still got to get a couple guys going.

“Our offense isn’t where it needs to be. But we’re talking March, right? There are still a few weeks for these guys to get their regular at-bats, get into the flow of the end of Spring Training and they’ll be fine.”

Camp moves

The Rockies optioned or reassigned 12 players to Minor League camp. Among the MLB Pipeline Top 30 Rockies prospects who were optioned were outfielder Sam Hilliard (the No. 10 prospect), corner infielder Josh Fuentes (No. 11), right-handed pitcher Ryan Castellani (12), righty reliever Justin Lawrence (13), outfielder Yonathan Daza (15) and righty reliever Jesus Tinoco (20).

Top 30 prospects reassigned (meaning they aren’t on the 40-man Major League roster) were corner infielders Colton Welker (2) and Tyler Nevin (7), and righty pitcher Rico Garcia (22).

Also optioned was righty reliever Rayan Gonzalez. Lefty pitcher Evan Grills and catcher Brian Serven were reassigned.

Officially, Castellani, Gonzalez, Tinoco, Daza, Hilliard and Fuentes (who underwent hamate surgery on his left hand early in camp but should return to action toward the end) were optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque and Lawrence was optioned to Double-A Hartford.

Work day for Gray

Rockies righty starter Jon Gray struck out four. But he fatigued, as pitchers may on March 11, and had trouble putting hitters away in the fourth inning. He ended up with 71 pitches, five hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings.

“It was a good day to work -- got a lot of work out of the stretch,” Gray said. “I was able to get my time [from first move to the plate] down to a 1.2-1.3 [seconds] out of the stretch. That was good.”

Noting his fastball throughout and slider in the fourth could have been located better, Gray said, “I’ve got some stuff to work on this week.”

Black was fine with Gray’s work, especially breaking pitches.

“There were a lot of swing-and-misses; the shape to it was fine,” Black said.

Just like old times

Gray departed with runners at first and third in the fourth. Righty Yency Almonte, who has had a couple rough outings this spring, then fanned lefty-hitting Dustin Fowler. It could be a nerve-wracking moment for a guy trying to make the team. But in his Major League debut last June 21 against the Mets, Almonte entered with runners at the corners and no outs, and escaped with a sacrifice fly and a double-play grounder.

“It’s like, either you’re going in to do the job or you’re going to go back home,” Almonte said.

Velocity is up

Lefty Jake McGee, trying to shake off a less-than-desirable 2018, gave up a Marcus Semien triple and a Fowler double in a one-run sixth. But Black saw the inning as a positive, based on McGee’s fastball averaging 95 mph, with just one pitch below 94.0. McGee has been developing a slider he hopes to use regardless of whether his velocity is right, but higher velocity makes him more effective.

McGee topped at 96.2 mph.

“We didn’t see that at all the last couple of years in Spring Training, or a lot during the season,” Black said.

No unimportant plays

Black has noted the importance of managing every inning of Spring Training games, even if fans often don’t know players’ names. He was rewarded in the ninth inning Monday when Noel Cuevas, who helped the big squad last year, and Elliot Soto, who has kicked around Triple-A for the last three years, had consecutive homers, and Bret Boswell, a Class A player last year, made a sliding play to begin the game-ending double play.

“That’s why you watch -- you never know what you’re going to see,” Black said.

Up next

The Rockies are off Tuesday, although righty Antonio Senzatela will pitch at the team's complex. After missing his last start with a stomach virus, lefty Kyle Freeland will pitch at 2:10 p.m. MDT Wednesday against the D-backs at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.