Saturday’s Game Report: Rockies 10, Cardinals 7
By Rob Rains
With one out in the fifth inning on Saturday night, Matthew Liberatore had a 3-0 lead and had only allowed two Rockies to reach base.
The situation changed quickly. Liberatore did not get another out, four batters later he was out of the game, and the Rockies were on their way to a win over the Cardinals in Denver.
It turned out to be a six-run inning that featured six hits, a walk, two stolen bases, two errors and two wild pitches. Five of the runs were charged to Liberatore.
The Rockies put the game with another big inning, scoring four runs in the seventh.
Down 10-5 going to the ninth, the Cardinals scored twice and got the potential tying run to the plate but Leo Bernal lined out to right to end the game.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Home runs from Joshua Baez, his seventh since he was promoted from Memphis, and Ivan Herrera, who homered for the second game in a row, gave the Cardinals the early 3-0 lead … Herrera’s homer was his 16th of the season … The Cardinals cut the lead to 6-5 in the sixth on singles by Bernal and Baez, a double by Nolan Gorman and a sacrifice fly from Thomas Saggese … Saggese drew a leadoff walk to open the ninth, followed by an RBI double from Jose Fermin and a two-out single by Herrera that made it a 10-7 game. Jordan Walker reached base on a wild pitch on a checked swing, which brought Bernal to the plate before his game-ending out.
On the mound: Liberatore retired 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced, allowing only a one-out walk in the fourth before running into his trouble in the fifth. Three consecutive singles and a walk knocked him out of the game …Luis Gastelum allowed the two runners he inherited from Liberatore to score … The four-run eighth came against Hancel Rincon and Brycen Mautz. Rincon was charged with all four runs, but the last two scored after Mautz entered the game.
Worth noting: The Cardinals did not make a roster move to activate Masyn Winn before the game but it could happen before Sunday’s game … Cardinals’ relievers have had to cover 7 1/3 innings in the first two games of the series.
Up next: Kyle Leahy, a native of Colorado, will get the start in the final game of the series on Sunday but he will once again be pitching on a tight pitch limit.
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