Charlie Blackmon breaks his slump as Rockies beat host Giants in extra innings

Charlie Blackmon has looked nothing like Charlie Blackmon this season.

One of the best to wear a Rockies uniform, the slugger had only nine hits entering Tuesday’s game and his batting average was just .148. Blackmon, who is accustomed to slow starts, has never had numbers that low to start a season. 

He went 2 for 4 at the plate, helping the Rockies beat the Giants 7-5 in 10 innings and get their first road win. It was the next wave of players who shined at the end though, with Ryan McMahon hitting a two-run home run to give the Rockies the lead in the 10th. CJ Cron followed it up with one of his own. 

“We’ve had tough losses on the road,” manager Bud Black said. “Close games. A pitch here or there. A big knock here or there. Tonight we got the big knock.” 

All of this was a welcomed sign for the Rockies, who were shut out 12-0 the night before and mustered just two hits. They had also dropped the first seven games away from Coors Field to start the season, a franchise record.

As Blackmon struggled though, Black wasn’t worried. 

Blackmon’s timing at the plate has been off — he was behind on the fastball but ahead on the change-up. His swing got aggressive as his slump continued. Blackmon was moved out of the coveted fourth spot in the lineup and into the sixth on Monday and fifth on Tuesday. Black insisted it was not a demotion, just something the team needed to do until Blackmon heated up and got his confidence back.

But after going five games without a hit, things started to click again for Blackmon on Tuesday.

McMahon and Cron both got on base in the first with a walk. Then came Blackmon, who doubled to the opposite gap to bring in McMahon and Cron.

In the sixth, Blackmon singled on a line drive to center field. Cron scored shortly after thanks to a high throw from Brandon Crawford.

“That was good to see,” Black said. “Hopefully it’s a jump-start.”

Garrett Hampson came off the bench in the ninth inning to hit a home run to give the Rockies the lead, but Daniel Bard gave up a home run to Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4-4. 

The Rockies are still waiting for some of their other players to start hitting, notably third baseman Josh Fuentes and Sam Hilliard. Fuentes was 0 for 5 on Tuesday, and Hilliard was removed after the fifth inning and replaced by Yonathan Daza, who has seven hits in the past six games.

“It would be really nice to have all 12 guys swing the bat well,” Black said. “That’s not the case in baseball. That’s very rare.”

Chi Chi Gonzalez started for the Rockies, and he threw 58 pitches in five innings. He allowed three runs, including a home run, and had four strikeouts. Gonzalez didn’t allow a single walk — something that has troubled the pitching staff so far this season.

“The plan was to attack the guys,” he said. “That’s my game plan always to get those guys in swing mode so I can throw perimeter pitches and get good results.”

The bullpen held it together for the most part, aside from Bard, with Ben Bowden, Mychal Givens and Tyler Stephenson pitching scoreless innings. Carlos Estévez finished things off, allowing one run but doing enough to salvage the game. 


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