Rockies beat sloppy Red Sox 4-3 in 10 after rain delay
By KEN POWTAK Associated Press
BOSTON - Nick Pivetta walked Randal Grichuk to force in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, first baseman Triston Casas booted a potential inning-ending grounder and the Colorado Rockies beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Monday night in a matchup of last-place teams.
The game was rain delayed for 1 hour, 29 minutes after Colorado scored twice in the top of the 10th, giving the Rockies a similar victory to a day earlier.
Owning the NL's worst record coming into the day, the Rockies have won two straight after a six-game losing streak. On Sunday, Nolan Jones hit a walk-off homer after a 1 hour, 25 minute rain delay.
Jones made this one last longer, too, when the right fielder made a splendid running backhanded grab, lunging slightly just in front of Boston's bullpen to take a two-run homer away from Rafael Devers in the eighth.
"I saw it well off the bat. I think I got a good jump on it. I started getting back and I didn't know how close I was getting to the wall," Jones said. "Once I came down and hit the wall, I realized it would have been a homer."
During the delay, the Rockies clubhouse was locked into watching the Denver Nuggets win their first NBA title by beating the Miami Heat at home.
"We were able to watch the end of the third quarter and all the fourth quarter," manager Bud Black said. "The clubhouse was popping. Guys who don't even follow basketball ... these guys were watching. It was awesome. They were pulling for the Nuggets."
Christian Arroyo had a solo homer for the Red Sox, who are in the AL East basement despite being a game under .500. Shortstop Kiké Hernández made his major league-leading 14th error, bouncing a throw past first base for Colorado's first run.
After Boston manager Alex Cora chose to intentionally walk a batter with two outs, Pivetta (3-4) walked the next two, forcing home the go-ahead run on Grichuk's walk.
"Not a good game, we made two errors and the walk," Cora said. "Frustrating. We don't make plays and they score runs."
With heavy rain falling, Casas misplayed Jones' grounder and slipped before trying to flip the ball to first, allowing a run to score that made it 4-2. The umpires then called for the tarp.
Daniel Bard (2-0) worked a scoreless inning for the victory and Matt Carasiti got the final three outs for his first big-league save despite allowing a run.
In an injury-altered season that had him playing in just his 33rd game, Arroyo lined his shot into the last row of Green Monster seats and pumped his fist when he rounded first.
Coming off taking two of three from the rival Yankees in New York, Boston tied it on Justin Turner's RBI double in the sixth.
Ryan McMahon doubled and scored on Hernández's two-out error in the fourth.
Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but Connor Seabold got Devers to tap into a 1-2-3 double play on the first pitch and struck out Adam Duvall on slider away.
NICE STARTS
Paxton had his best start with the Red Sox, allowing an unearned run in six innings, striking out eight with four hits and a walk.
"I was really happy with the breaking balls tonight," he said. "I was throwing them for strikes and keeping them down in the zone."
Former Red Sox right-hander Seabold recorded his best career start, giving up a run and with six strikeouts in six innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: Catcher Elías Díaz was back in the lineup after getting Sunday off. He took a foul ball off the mask in two straight games and left Saturday's early for precautionary reasons.
Red Sox: Cora said infielder Trevor Story (offseason surgery, right elbow) threw from 120 feet on Monday. He's been taking batting practice for a while and thinks he can return as a DH next month. "Yeah, (July) is a real possibility," Story said. "I think that's as early as we've looked at it." ... Outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who went 0 for 11 in series against the Yankees, had the day off until getting a pinch hit single in the 10th.
UP NEXT
Rockies RHP Chase Anderson (0-0, 2.25 ERA) faces Red Sox RHP Kutter Crawford (1-3, 3.68) in the middle game of the three-game series on Tuesday night.
