Center fielder Brenton Doyle electrified Coors Field Tuesday night, first with his defense and then with his smile.
A 3-for-4 night at the plate helped, too, as the Rockies cruised past the Cardinals for an 8-4 victory. The Rockies are 3-2 since the All-Star break.
Doyle’s spectacular catch saved a run in the third. St. Louis center fielder Victor Scott II drew a one-out walk and was sailing for home after Brendan Donovan crushed a ball to right-center. A double, or possibly a triple, looked to be in play, except that Doyle sprinted across the outfield, made a perfectly-timed diving catch, and then threw to first to easily double up Scott to end the inning.
“I got a pretty good read off the bat on it and knew I was going to be aggressive,” Doyle said. “It was fun.”
Manager Warren Schaeffer called Doyle’s catch the turning point of the game.
“It really could have gone either way at that point,” he said. “Momentum is huge in this game, and you get a big-time defender like that out there, doing his thing … It was an absolutely incredible play. Fantastic.”
It was the best catch of the season for Doyle, the two-time Gold Glove winner. He got off the turf flashing a 100-watt grin. Doyle’s catch gave rookie right-hander Bradley Blalock some breathing room.
So what sparked Doyle’s smile, the fun of the catch or the importance of the moment?
“A little bit of both,” he said. “I knew it was a big momentum-builder, for sure. And I was just enjoying it.”
Right fielder Mickey Moniak, who put the Rockies on the board with a solo homer in the first inning, had the best view in the ballpark of Doyle’s catch.
“B.D. is a two-time Gold Glover for a reason, and he’s one of the best, if not the best center fielders in the game,” Moniak said. “I had an unbelievable view of the play and I guess my whole thought process was, ‘Get out of the way and let him do his job.’ ”
Growth for a young pitcher is signified by his ability to keep the wheels from falling off. Blalock did that against the Cardinals. The rookie right-hander gave up two runs in the fourth, but it could have been a lot worse. The Cardinals rapped out three hits, but Blalock induced three groundball outs to escape major trouble.
Blalock didn’t record a single strikeout, and he gave up eight hits, but he only walked one over his 5 1/3 innings and never looked frazzled on the way to the second victory of his career.
“It builds up my confidence,” he said. “I just have to come in every day and keep working. There is always something to work on.”
Colorado’s offense, dormant so often at Coors Field this season, produced runs in four of the first five innings. Moniak stayed sizzling hot. His monstrous, 450-foot solo homer to right field off struggling St. Louis right-hander Erick Fedde was his 15th home run of the season, a new career-high.
Moniak has hit safely in each of his last 10 home games, going 18-for-36 (.500) with four doubles, one triple, four home runs and nine RBIs over that span. He’s slashing .367/.421/.786 since June 1, leading the majors in batting, slugging and OPS over that span.
In the second inning, second baseman Adael Amador (2 for 3) drove in Ryan McMahon and Doyle with a two-run double to right.
McMahon’s three-run, opposite-field homer to left off Fedde gave Colorado a 6-0 lead in the third. McMahon, the subject of persistent trade rumors, has hit four home runs in his last eight games. His 16 home runs are the second-most on the club behind All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman’s 18.
The Rockies (25-76) will try to clinch their fourth series win of the season on Wednesday afternoon against St. Louis.