Ellis, Nicasio star as Rockies pound Royals
Mark Ellis gave the Rockies an immediate lift in his Colorado Rockies debut, and Juan Nicasio had the best start of his young career as the Rockies walloped the Kansas City Royals 9-0 for just their second win in the past five games.
Ellis, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI, singled through the hole at shortstop in the first, and the ball from Ellis’ first National League hits was tossed to the Rockies’ dugout for Ellis to keep. After popping out in the third, Ellis hit a two-run homer in the fifth and doubled home a run in the three-run sixth. He grounded back to the pitcher in the eighth.
Nicasio, making his seventh career start, pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed three singles, one an infield hit, and didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. He threw 111 pitches, 71 strikes, with two walks and four strikeouts. He got 17 outs on ground balls.
Troy Tulowitzki hit his 16th homer, a two-run shot in the third off starter Danny Duffy. Todd Helton doubled home two runs in the sixth off Nate Adcock. It was the 542nd double of Helton’s career, tying him with Hall of Famer Harry Heilman for 25th all-time.
Charlie Blackmon, pinch-hitting for Carlos Gonzalez, led off the ninth with his first career homer. Facing Royals closer Joakim Soria, Blackmon drove an 0-2 pitch into the Rockies bullpen in right-center.
Other highlights:
_ The shutout win was the Rockies fifth of the season and third at home. They have been blanked three times, twice at home.
_ The Royals only at-bat with a runner in scoring position came with two out in the ninth. Facing Edgmer Escalona, Jeff Francouer flied to Ryan Spilborghs in deep left-center to end the game.
_ Helton went 4-for-5, raising his average 10 points to .318, the highest it has been since he was hitting .319 on June 12. This was Helton’s second four-hit game of the season; he went 4-for-4 with two doubles, one homer and one RBI on June 8 at San Diego.
_ Nicasio lowered his ERA from 5.08 to 4.10. This was the longest start of his career, topping the seven innings he threw May 29 in his major league debut against the Cardinals. He threw a career-high 111 pitches; his previous high pitch count was 108 on June 14 in six innings against the Padres.
The Good Rockies show up in droves. Impressive outing by Nicasio, excellent contribution from the new guy, steady play by everyone else. Maybe the Monforts should spring for fireworks more often…
Schizophrenic Rox raise hopes again. There’s little doubt that Nicasio will be a beast in the rotation. Now, if Mark Ellis can revert back to where he was earlier in his career, Rox might have second base issue solved. Once game does not a season make, but it’s a start. Ellis is a pro at least. After the awful frustration of yesterday’s White Sox loss, tonight was big.
Just loved the Charlie Blackmon, “Yeah! You wanna see it?” moment on the postgame show, when asked by Rizzo if he had the HR ball. A happy guy.
I thought we acquired Mark Ellis for his glove. Nice surprise and hope it’s not a “one night wonder”. Still, a good glove anyway.
Thanks Nicasio, Helton, Tulo and Blackmon (am I leaving somebody out?) and the rest of the Rox for making the start of a holiday weekend very pleasant.
Lot of work to do, yet.
Ellis will be an improvement, not just tonight. Blackmon first extra-base hit. Nicasio a future Chacin-like talent.
yowza! who are these guys? Haha. Good win. I like crow, so keep it going Ellis.
Very happy to see Charlie-O get his first HR, on his birthday even.