One Is Enough: Rockies Claim Franchise's 7th 1-0 Home Victory
Giants manager Bruce Bochy chose his words carefully in the aftermath of a 1-0 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday night, the final part of the Rockies three-game sweep of the visiting team, which scored three runs and had 24 hits in the 27-inning visit to the Mile High City.
“They’ve been pitching well,” Bochy said. “Still, you’d like to think in this ballpark you’re going to find a way to get some runs. We couldn’t.”
Hard to argue with Bochy.
Since the Rockies came into existence in 1993, visiting teams have averaged 5.9 runs scored per game in Denver, 5.8 runs since 1995 when the Rockies moved from Mile High Stadium into Coors Field.
But, hey, strange things do happen. And Coors Field is no exception to the rule.
Bochy knows that well.
The Rockies win on Wednesday night marked the eighth time in franchise history that they have won a game by the score of 1-0 in Denver -- once at Mile High Stadium in a rain-shortened game against the Braves -- and seven times at Coors Field.
Bochy has been in the visiting dugout for three of those six Coors Field adventures -- two with the Giants and one when he was managing the Padres.
That's eight out of 2,033 regular-season games the Rockies have played in Denver, seven out of 1,895 games at Coors Field. That's eight in what is now the 26th year of Major League Baseball in Denver -- seven in what is now the 24th year of Coors Field.
Heck, even a Blue Moon comes around every three years. But a 1-0 Rockies victory in Coors Field? Those come around every four years.
And each of those 1-0 victories have their own special charm.
Wednesday Night, Rockies 1-0 over Giants
The Rockies completed their first Coors Field sweep of the season. Tyler Anderson worked eight scoreless innings, giving up two singles and two walks, for the victory, and Wade Davis earned the save, giving up a single and a walk in his one inning.
Chris Iannetta provided the run in the seventh inning with a towering home run down the left field line that stayed just inside the foul pole, and landed on the concourse, above the seats. It completed a series in which the Giants managed 14 hits and three runs in the three losses.
June 12, 2010, Rockies 1-0 over Blue Jays
Starting pitcher Jason Hammel drew a walk to open the sixth, and with one out Todd Helton singled Hammel to third. Carlos Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly. Hammel went eight innings, allowing three hits and three walks, and Manuel Corpas worked the ninth to earn the save.
There is something about Coors Field that doesn't mesh with the Blue Jays, though. The Jays are 9-0 all-time, hosting the Rockies in interleague play, but they are 2-7 all-time at Coors Field. The Jays have a 6.38 ERA in those nine games at Coors Field. They lost their first seven -- and the 1-0 game was the fifth of those seven -- before winning the two most recent June 28-29, 2016.
July 6, 2009, Rockies 1-0 over Nationals
Three batters into the game the Rockies had their run. With one out, Clint Barmes singled, and scored on an ensuing double by Todd Helton. Jason Marquis went eight innings, giving up seven hits and two walks. Huston Street worked a perfect ninth for what was his 20th save of the season. It was the opening game of what became a three-game sweep for the wild-card-bound Rockies.
The Rockies are 54-41 all-time against the Expos/Nationals at Coors Field, but are only 13-15 against since that three-game series in 2009, and have been outscored 188-155 in those 28 games, an average 6.7 runs per game for the Nationals.
September 17, 2008, Rockies 1-0 over Padres
Joe Koshansky drove a 3-2 pitch from Josh Greer with two out in the fourth over the center field fence. Livan Hernandez and four relievers combined on the five-hit shutout, which Brian Fuentes finished off with a 1-2-3 ninth that included two strikeouts.
It was the final of the three big-league home runs Koshansky hit in a big-league career that included 35 games between 2007 and 2009 in which he hit .180 with more strikeouts (22) than hits (nine) in 50 big-league at-bats.
September 14, 2008, Rockies 1-0 over Dodgers
After nine scoreless innings, Manuel Corpas retired the Dodgers in oder in the top of the 10th, and the Rockies, held to two hits over the first nine innings, sent five batters to the plate against Hung-Chih Kuo in the bottom of the 10th, including four singles, including Troy Tulowitzki's game-ending hit, which scored Matt Holiday.
Holiday left off the 10th with a single, and Brad Hawpe struck out. Then came consecutive singles from Garrett Atkins, pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs and Tulowitzki. Greg Maddux limited the Rockies two two singles in the first seven innings, and Cory Wade pitched two hitless innings before Kuo got the call in the 10th.
June 11, 2008, Rockies 1-0 over Giants
It was't pretty, but it was a victory. Keiichi Yabu got the call from the Giants bullpen to take over at the start of the bottom of the ninth. A Brad Hawpe single between walks to Garrett Atkins and Iannetta, loaded the bases with nobody out. Bochy called on Jack Taschner to take over for Yabu.
Taschner got Jeff Baker, hitting for Omar Quintanilla, to hit a shallow fly ball for an out. Then, Yorvit Torrealba, hitting for Brian Fuentes, flied to left, Garrett Atkins tagging and scoring when catcher Bengie Molina couldn't handle the throw and was charged with an error.
July 9, 2005, Rockies 1-0 over Padres
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, second baseman Aaron Miles beat out a bunt single. Shortstop Luis Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring double off Brian Lawrence. The Rockies were the victims of three double plays and left only four batters on base.
The Rockies lost 95 games that season, equaling their total for 1993, their first year of existence. It was the third largest loss total in franchise history, one behind 2014 and three fewer than 2012.
Aug. 10, 1994, Rockies 1-0 over Braves.
Rain led to the game being called after 5 1/2 innings. Walt Weiss scored the only run in the fourth when he drew a lead-off walk from Tom Glavine, and Dante Bichette, the next batter, doubled Weiss home. Kevin Ritz worked 5 2/3 innings for the win, and Steve Reed came on to get what turned out to be the final out.
The game turned out to be the next-to-last game of the season. Two days later the Major League Baseball Players Association went out on strike, which led to not only wiping out the rest of the regular season, but also the post-season, and led to a three-week delay in the start for the 1995 season.