Story hits walk-off HR in 9th, Rockies beat slumping Dbacks

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This article was published 23/05/2021 (1636 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DENVER (AP) — Trevor Story hit a home run leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Colorado Rockies over the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 on Sunday.

Story hit a 1-1 curveball from Stefan Crichton (0-3) to complete a sweep of the Diamondbacks. It was his fifth homer of the season, and he celebrated by tossing his helmet in the air as he rounded the bases.

“Walk-offs are always special, but to end on a sweep, that’s pretty cool,” Story said.

Josh Fuentes had two doubles and Daniel Bard (2-3) pitched the ninth to get the win.

Pavin Smith homered for Arizona, which has lost eight in a row and 13 straight on the road. The Diamondbacks nearly overcame the early exit of starter Taylor Widener but slipped into last place in the NL West.

“It’s very tough, losing this much on the road,” Smith said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of the games, which makes it even harder. Losing at the end there really hurt but we’re going to bounce back from it.”

Colorado starter Jon Gray retired the first 12 batters he faced before David Peralta singled leading off the fifth. Against Arizona on April 8, he didn’t allow a hit through six innings.

Gray was spotted a 2-0 lead into the sixth when he faltered. He walked the first two and after a sacrifice fly scored the first run Smith homered down the right-field line to put the Arizona ahead 3-2.

“I thought he missed some spots in the fifth but got through it,” manager Bud Black said. “The sixth, the leadoff walk to (Daulton) Varsho was a red flag.”

Colorado tied it 3-all in the eighth on an RBI grounder. Yonathan Daza was later thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a double.

Widener left the game with two outs in the second inning with right groin discomfort after allowing an unearned run on Story’s RBI single.

“I’m not very happy about it right now. I was excited to get back and start pitching again,” Widener said. “My last bullpen I threw I felt really good.”

It was Widener’s first game since April 22. He was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after being sidelined by a right groin strain.

“Seeing him walk around and hearing some of the comments from the training staff we’re hopeful it’s going to be a quick recovery and we’ll get him back on the field as soon as possible,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We felt that he was asymptomatic, he was in a good spot but obviously something reoccured and we have to be mindful of that moving forward.”

The Rockies added another run in the fifth after a challenge overturned an inning-ending double play and kept Charlie Blackmon on second base. Fuentes hit his second double to score Blackmon.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Optioned OF/INF Josh VanMeter to Triple-A Reno to make room for Widener on the roster.

Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (left shoulder soreness) is on track to make his first start of the season Tuesday at the New York Mets. … RHP Peter Lambert (Tommy John surgery) is throwing bullpen sessions but is not close to making a return.

DEFENSIVE EFFORT

Saturday it was Colorado outfielder Raimel Tapia making a diving catch to save a couple of runs. Sunday it was Daza’s turn. He stretched at the warning track to catch Josh Reddick’s in the fifth to keep it a 1-0 game. Then in the sixth, just before Smith’s home run, he made a diving catch off the bat of Ketel Marte.

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Diamondbacks: Will open a three-game home series against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. Arizona has not announced a starter for the first game.

Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (2-4, 4.96) will open a four-game series against the Mets in New York on Monday night.

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