Iannetta homers in 7th, Rox beat D’backs 6-2 on rainy night
DENVER (AP) — Here's a sight for sore eyes: Chris Iannetta is seeing the ball a whole lot clearer since recently switching contacts.
Like homer-through-rain-drops sort of vision.
Iannetta hit a two-run shot in the seventh on a cool and drizzly Tuesday evening, sending the Colorado Rockies to a 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The veteran catcher lined a curve from Merrill Kelly over the left-field fence for his fourth homer of the season.
"Kind of one-handed it," said Iannetta, who was a late addition to the lineup due to Tony Wolters' bruised right hand. "But I knew I hit it pretty good. It was just a matter of if I hit it too high."
He didn't.
Although, Kelly thought maybe it would stay in the park.
"I thought it got in on him a little bit," Kelly said. "But when I saw it went over, it was tough."
Early in the season, Iannetta used a less powerful contact prescription only to notice some eye fatigue. When he went on the injured list (strained lat) in April, he discovered a supply of contacts in his old prescription and decided to switch. He's hitting .323 with three homers since his return from the injured list.
"It's been a big thing that's relaxed me behind the plate and offensively," Iannetta said. "That's helped me a lot."
This was another late-inning rally for the Rockies, who improved to 4-1, including three walk-off wins, on their 10-game homestand. Ryan McMahon added some insurance runs with a two-run, eighth-inning double in a game where the temperatures dipped into the mid-40s and the rain steadily picked up intensity.
After a solid outing by starter Antonio Senzatela, the bullpen took over. Jairo Diaz (1-0) earned his first career win and Chad Bettis picked up his first-ever save by throwing two scoreless innings.
Eduardo Escobar hit his 13th homer of the season for Arizona. He also had an RBI single.
A light rain began falling around the fifth and steadily strengthened as fans headed for cover. The announced crowd of 21,583 was something far less when Bettis retired Escobar on a grounder to end the game.
To keep warm, Escobar and Ketel Marte wore ski masks. Same with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and some of the umpiring crew. The players also stuck their throwing hands in their back pockets in between pitches.
"With the rain and the wind, it was a little gnarly," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "The field held up pretty well."
Kelly (4-6) had an efficient outing going before Iannetta's homer. The right-hander went 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs.
"I felt like he was in control of the day and he deserved that opportunity," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of why he left in Kelly. "Even though he was at a 100 pitches, I felt like he was in command of the ball game."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: RHP Luke Weaver will soon get a second opinion after being diagnosed with a strained forearm. "We're still going to remain extremely optimistic," Lovullo said.
Rockies: Wolters hurt his right hand on a foul tip Monday.
WALKER'S INNING
The second inning was all first baseman Christian Walker: He committed an error, turned an unassisted double play and then stepped on first after fielding a routine grounder for the final out.
His miscue, though, broke Arizona's string of 12 straight games without an error. That was tied for the second-longest games streak in team history.
COMPOSURE
Senzatela went six strong innings and allowed two runs in the no-decision. The right-hander showed some displeasure with the strike zone, slamming the ball into his glove. But he quickly regrouped on the mound.
"It was good to see him really stay focused and keep going," Iannetta said.
ARENADO HONORED
Arenado was named the NL player of the week for May 20-26 after batting .538 with four homers and nine RBIs. He's won the award six times over his career, which is tied with Dante Bichette and Todd Helton for most in franchise history.
MOVES
Arizona selected the contract of right-hander Stefan Crichton from Triple-A Reno and optioned righty Jimmie Sherfy back to Reno. Crichton got the final out in the seventh.
UP NEXT
Rockies righty Jeff Hoffman (0-1, 8.10 ERA) makes his third start of the season Wednesday against Arizona. The Diamondbacks will throw left-hander Robbie Ray (4-1, 3.26), who has 50 strikeouts over his last seven starts.
