Rockies, D-Backs Set Record For Most Combined Runs In Season Since 1969
PHOENIX (The Sports Xchange) - Arizona manager Chip Hale said he didn't expect to see 16-homer power from second baseman Jean Segura.
As it turns out, neither did Segura.
Segura had five hits including a pair of home runs to power the Arizona Diamondbacks past the Colorado Rockies 11-6 Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep.
"I didn't realize I had that kind of power," Segura said. "It's a good home field here at Chase Field, especially with the roof open, but a homer is a homer."
Segura has hit four home runs the past two nights as the Diamondbacks swept a home series for the first time since Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, 2015, also against the Rockies.
"Obviously we needed all those runs," Hale said.
Brandon Drury homered in his third straight game and Chris Owings also homered for the Diamondbacks.
Arizona finished with 16 hits, the 14th consecutive game against Colorado in which the Diamondbacks had double-digit hits. It's the longest single-season streak against a single opponent since the Brooklyn Robins had a 17-game such streak against Philadelphia in 1930.
"It's a good offensive club that's hot right now," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss. "They've got Segura. He's turned into a heck of a player. Their offense shows up against us and once they get rolling it's tough to stop them."
In their 19 meetings this season, Arizona and Colorado scored 265 runs, the highest combined total by two teams since 1969.
Right-hander Braden Shipley earned the victory in relief for the Diamondbacks despite allowing five runs on eight hits in four-plus innings. Shipley (4-3) walked one and struck out three.
"It's just hard because that order is so good at scoring runs," Hale said. "They were on him pretty well at the end."
Charlie Blackmon had three hits including a triple and his 27th home run, Daniel Descalso also homered, and Nolan Arenado had two doubles among his three hits for the Rockies, who have lost four of five.
Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman (0-4) went 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and two walks with a career-high five strikeouts.
"I thought I felt a lot more comfortable today," Hoffman said. "I just kinda fell apart in the sixth. I had my best game stuff since I've gotten here but I need to put it together where I have both, the control and stuff too."
Blackmon gave the Rockies a quick 1-0 lead when he led off the game with a home run just inside the right-field foul pole. It was Blackmon's ninth leadoff homer of the season and 21st of his career.
Segura answered in the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer of his own off Hoffman, his second in as many nights. Hoffman retired the next two batters on infield line drives before Jake Lamb walked and Yasmany Tomas doubled him home to make it 2-1.
It was the fourth time in Diamondbacks history that both Arizona and its opponent hit leadoff home runs, the first since 2011.
Arizona starter Rubby De La Rosa, after allowing the home run and one other hit along with two walks in the first, hit Daniel Descalso with a pitch leading off the second before being removed. De La Rosa, who has been expected to throw up to 60 pitches over multiple innings, needed 45 pitches to record three outs, two by strikeout.
"We're going to look at his health," Hale said. "He didn't seem to have the same stuff and his command obviously wasn't there. I went out there and asked him and he said he felt fine."
Randall Delgado finished the second before giving way to Shipley, the Diamondbacks' designated reliever to piggyback with De La Rosa.
Segura hit his second home run in the fifth, following a single by Shipley with a line drive just over the left-field fence to put the Diamondbacks ahead 4-1.
It was Segura's second straight two-homer game, his third of the season and fourth of his career.
Chris Owings doubled after Segura and scored from third when catcher Tom Murphy dropped a throw from Mark Reynolds for a 5-1 lead. Lamb, who was safe on the fielder's choice on the error, scored on a double by Brandon Drury. Drury himself scored on a Socrates Brito to make it 7-1.
Descalso hit a two-run homer in the top of the sixth to pull Colorado within 7-3, but Owings hit his two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to extend Arizona's lead to 9-3.
Colorado added three more in the seventh when Blackmon tripled, DJ LeMahieu singled, Arenado doubled and Carlos Gonzalez singled before the Rockies recorded an out. Gerardo Parra capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-6.
The Diamondbacks moved ahead 10-6 when Phil Gosselin hit a pinch-hit single, advanced to third on a single and groundout and scored on a wild pitch that bounced off the heel of Murphy's glove and over the backstop into the stands.
Drury added a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth off Carlos Estevez, Colorado's sixth of seven pitchers of the game. Drury became the first Diamondbacks rookie to homer in three straight games.
NOTES: Arizona scored a franchise-record 34 runs in the three-game series. ... Rockies OF Gerardo Parra, out the past several days with a strained right hamstring, returned to the lineup and hit sixth. ... Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray became the fastest left-hander to 200 strikeouts in his age 24-or-younger season since 1913, reaching the plateau in 159 1/3 innings. Cleveland's Sam McDowell accomplished the feat in 161 1/3 innings in 1965. ... Entering Wednesday's games, the Rockies are 58-108 all-time in Phoenix versus an 86-82 home mark against the Diamondbacks. ... Arizona INF Chris Owings was credited with a triple from the Sept. 9 game against San Francisco on a play originally ruled an error. With the change, he leads the majors with 10 triples.
