Through two innings, Saturday’s Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Angels tilt began like any other baseball game. Then the floodgates opened at Coors Field—not in the home team’s favor.
With Los Angeles leading 2–0, Mike Trout hit a solo home run off Rockies starter Chase Anderson in the top of the third. One pitch later, Brandon Drury launched an Anderson cutter into the left-centerfield stands for another solo home run. And then, one pitch after that, Matt Thais deposited an Anderson curve ball into the right field stands.
With back-to-back home runs on three consecutive pitches, the Angels’ lead grew to 5–0. And that was just the beginning.
Los Angeles scored 13 runs in one inning in the 25–1 loss, which set a franchise record for runs scored. They scored eight runs in the fourth, then added a pair of crucial, insurance runs in the sixth and eighth to increase their lead to 25–0. The only consolation for the Rockies was a solo home run by Brenton Doyle in the ninth, reducing their deficit to 24 runs and ending the shutout.
The Angels had 28 hits and five home runs. He reached the base by walking five times. Each Angels starter had one RBI and one hit by the end of the third inning. Every Angels starter finished the game with at least one RBI and one run.
Left fielder Mickey Moniak led the way with five hits and five runs scored on a 5-for-5 night with four RBI. He added to the home run barrage in his second at-bat of the inning with a two-run blast off Rockies reliever Matt Carasetti in the third.
Anderson had gone too far by that time.
Shortstop David Fletcher contributed five RBIs on 4-of-6 attempts including a run scored on the Angels’ fifth and final home run of the night, a three-run blast in the fourth inning.
That home run by Noah Davis extended the Angels’ lead to 23–0 and mercifully halted their scoring barrage until Moniak scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Drury and Hunter Renfro joined Moniac with four RBI each. Trout, Drury and Thais each had three hits, while Eduardo Escobar totaled four hits, one behind Moniac’s five.
Meanwhile, superstar Shohei Ohtani finished pedestrian 1 of 7 at the plate with a pair of strikeouts. But, like everyone else in the lineup, he registered one each in both the runs and RBI columns.
Anderson, on the other hand, took the brunt of the damage, allowing 10 hits, 3 home runs, and 2 walks for 9 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Making matters worse, he was the first pitcher to allow three home runs on three consecutive pitches, well – he did the same thing as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. The New York Yankees tagged Anderson for three consecutive home runs in that game on September 17, 2020, a 10–7 Yankees victory.
Davis combined with Anderson to pitch his devastating inning, allowing 11 hits, 1 walk and 2 home runs while giving up 9 earned runs over three innings. Carasetti managed to strike out just one in relief of Anderson in the third, while giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 home run, adding 6 earned runs.
Sadly for the Rockies, his work with the Angels is far from over. They will lock horns for the third game of the three-match series on Sunday afternoon. Austin Gomber, with a 4-7 record and 7.25 ERA, will take the field for Colorado.