Rockies pull out 10-inning win but lose closer
DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies watched a four-run lead dissolve in the seventh inning Tuesday night. They saw closer Rafael Betancourt walk off the mound with tightness in his right groin after throwing two pitches in the 10th.
However, they overcame these disheartening situations and salvaged a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in 10 innings on a single by Wilin Rosario.
Former Rockies left-hander Matt Reynolds, who was traded to the Diamondbacks in November after making 165 appearances in three seasons for Colorado, took the mound for Arizona in the 10th. With one out, Carlos Gonzalez doubled and, after Troy Tulowitzki was intentionally walked, Rosario smacked a first-pitch single to right field to win the game.
Gonzalez pulled a 2-1 slider to right.
"I fell behind him, but more than that, I had a game plan, didn't execute it," Reynolds said. "Kind of the thing on him is he'll hit breaking balls if they're in the zone. It was way too much zone, way too much up. He just turned on it."
Rosario, who caught Reynolds often last season, said he wasn't thinking of how familiarity might help him with the winning run on second base.
"When you know somebody, that's when you get too comfortable, and they can get you," Rosario said.
Betancourt, who has a 1.56 ERA in 18 games and has converted each of his 10 save opportunities, came into the game and threw two pitches in the dirt to Paul Goldschmidt. On the second one, Betancourt spun off the mound toward first base. With manager Walt Weiss, pitching coach Jim Wright and head trainer Keith Dugger watching, Betancourt threw several warmup pitches, then left the game.
He said his groin first began bothering him last month when the Diamondbacks were in Coors Field from April 19-21, a series sandwiched between two home series played in extremely cold weather.
Betancourt, who will undergo an MRI exam Wednesday, said he did not think the injury was serious.
"It's not painful," he said. "It was feeling weird warming up. I always push a lot from that leg. I came into the game, bounced the first two pitches. Feel ... weak. It was getting tight. That's all."
Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin sailed through six scoreless innings, holding the Diamondbacks to one hit, a two-out double in the third by pitcher Ian Kennedy, while running his scoreless streak against Arizona to 20 1/3 innings. However, the Diamondbacks struck for four runs (three earned) in the seventh, chasing Chacin after 6 1/3 innings.
"He's been really good against us," Goldschmidt said. "We haven't done too well. Seems like he locates all his pitches. Seems like he never gives you anything to hit, but he throws a lot of strikes so you're behind in the count, but there's nothing to really drive."
Two walks by Chacin and an error by first baseman Jordan Pacheco set up the rally that allowed Arizona to wipe out a 4-0 deficit. Chacin walked Goldschmidt with one out and found himself with runners on first and third when Pacheco muffed Eric Chavez's grounder. Chacin walked Cody Ross to load the bases.
Jason Kubel drove in two runs with a double to left-center on a 0-2 fastball, the ball just eluding diving left fielder Gonzalez. Martin Prado then tied the game at 4-4 when he grounded Chacin's 1-1 slider up the middle to tie the game.
The Diamondbacks' seventh wiped out the Rockies' early lead. Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu had RBI singles in the second inning, Troy Tulowitzki hit his ninth homer in the third, and LeMahieu knocked in a run with a fourth-inning double.
LeMahieu finished 3-for-4.
NOTES: 1B Todd Helton was not in the Rockies' lineup. He typically doesn't play in a day game after a night game, but he will play Wednesday afternoon against Diamondbacks RHP Trevor Cahill. Weiss said Cahill's heavy sinker makes him tough on right-handed hitters, so he opted to start Jordan Pacheco on Tuesday night and play Helton on Wednesday. ... Rockies RF Michael Cuddyer (inflamed cervical disk) played in an extended spring training game in Scottsdale, Ariz. "I think he got five at-bats and all went well," Weiss said. ... Colorado LHP Jorge De La Rosa will start Wednesday almost two years to the day he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow pitching against the Diamondbacks at Coors Field on May 24, 2011. "It's one of the tough days in my career," De La Rosa said. "It was a long rehab. I'm glad I'm ready to go; I think I'm helping the team a little bit." ... Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said there is no timetable on the return of OF Adam Eaton (strained left elbow), who through Monday had played 16 rehab games with high Class A Visalia and Class AAA Reno. ... Gibson said 2B Aaron Hill (broken left hand), who is rehabilitating at the Diamondbacks' complex in Scottsdale, Ariz., will see a doctor in the next week, which will be two weeks after he last was examined. After this examination, Hill is expected to begin strengthening exercises, Gibson said.
