Through two innings, Saturday’s Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Angels tilt started like any other baseball game. Then the floodgates opened at Coors Field — not in favor of the home team.
With Los Angeles leading 2-0, Mike Trout advanced to the third on a solo home run off Rockies starter Chase Anderson. One pitch later, Brandon Drury launched an Anderson cutter into left-centerfield for another solo home run. One pitch later, Matt Thies deposited an Anderson curveball into the right field stands.
With back-to-back home runs on three consecutive pitches, the Angels’ lead grew to 5-0. That’s just the beginning.
Los Angeles scored 13 runs in an inning in a 25–1 rout that set a franchise record for runs. They scored eight runs in the fourth, then put together insurance runs in the sixth and eighth to extend their lead to 25-0. The only consolation for the Rockies was Brendan Doyle’s solo home run in the ninth to cut their deficit to 24 and prevent a shutout.
The Angels added 28 hits and five home runs. They reached the base by walking five times. Each of the Angels starters had an RBI and a hit in the bottom of the third inning. Every Angels starter finished the game with at least one RBI and one run scored.
Left fielder Mickey Moniak led the way with a 5-for-5 night with five hits and five runs scored and four RBI. He hit a two-run home run off Rockies reliever Matt Karacetti at third in the second at-bat of the inning.
Anderson was on that point for a long time.
Shortstop David Fletcher contributed five RBI on a 4-of-6 effort, including a run scored in the Angels’ fifth and final home run, a three-run fourth inning.
That home run by Noah Davis extended the Angels’ lead to 23-0 and mercifully stopped their scoring until Moniak scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Drury and Hunter Renfro joined Moniak with four RBI each. Trout, Drury and Theis each had three hits, while Eduardo Escobar had four, one behind Moniak’s five.
Superstar Shohei Ohtani, meanwhile, finished a pedestrian 1-for-7 with a pair of strikeouts. But, like everyone else in the lineup, he registered with one apiece in both the runs and RBI columns.
Anderson, on the other hand, took the brunt of the damage, allowing 9 runs on 10 hits, 3 home runs and 2 walks in 2 2/3 innings. To make matters worse, he became the first pitcher to allow three home runs in three consecutive pitches — the same he did as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. In a game on September 17, 2020, the New York Yankees tagged Anderson for three straight home runs as the Yankees won 10–7.
Davis allowed 11 hits, 1 walk and 2 home runs while giving up 9 earned runs in three innings. Caracetti struck out just one in the third in relief of Anderson while giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 home run to go along with 6 earned runs.
Unfortunately for the Rockies, they didn’t finish off the Angels. They face off in the third game of the three-match series on Sunday afternoon. Austin Comber, with a 4-7 record and 7.25 ERA, is slated to take the hill for Colorado.
