Arizona Diamondbacks vs Colorado Rockies Box Score on May 06, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 6, 2017

DENVER -- After six starts that were so-so or worse, Tyler Anderson finally found his 2016 rookie pitching form Saturday night for the Colorado Rockies.

Anderson pitched six innings, the first time he did that in seven starts this season, in Colorado's 9-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He pitched at least six innings in 14 of 19 starts last season.

The Rockies broke a four-game losing streak at Coors Field, where they are 8-7 as opposed to 11-5 on the road.

Anderson, who entered the game with a 7.71 ERA, gave up one run on six hits. Four of them never left the infield and three were slow rollers, reminiscent of last year when Anderson (2-3) consistently induced soft contact and compiled a 3.54 ERA, the second-lowest by a rookie pitching at least 100 innings in franchise history.

Anderson notched a career-high tying 10 strikeouts Saturday, a mark he first achieved Aug. 24 at Milwaukee, and struck out six of the final seven batters he faced.

Mark Reynolds highlighted a four-run first with a two-run homer, and Nolan Arenado, who singled home a run in the first, hit a solo shot in the third against Patrick Corbin (2-4), who yielded a career-high tying eight earned runs in four innings.

The homers were the 10th for Reynolds and eighth for Arenado this season.

The Rockies scored in four of the five innings to build an 8-1 lead.

In addition to his 10 strikeouts, Anderson got six outs on ground balls and did not register an out on a fly ball. He allowed nine homers in 30 1/3 innings in his previous six starts after surrendering 12 in 114 1/3 innings last season.

Chris Rusin pitched the final three innings in relief of Anderson to earn his first career save in his 58th relief appearance in the big leagues.

Gerardo Parra had an RBI single in the fifth when the Rockies chased Corbin. Corbin gave up eight runs and nine hits in four-plus innings as his ERA in Coors Field increased to 7.85.

A two-run fourth gave the Rockies a 7-1 lead. Blackmon hit a two-out RBI triple and scored on a single by DJ LeMahieu.

Arenado led off the third with his eighth home run, giving the Rockies a 5-1 lead. It was Arenado's sixth homer off a left-handed pitcher this season and came when he was in a 4-for-23 slide.

With a four-run first, the Rockies struck quickly against Corbin, who staggered into the fifth when he was lifted after facing one batter. Blackmon led off the first with a double as the ball hopped past first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

LeMahieu singled to put runners on the corners, and Arenado singled home a run.

With Reynolds batting, LeMahieu scored on Corbin's wild pitch. Reynolds followed with his 10th home run of the season to make it 4-0.

It wasn't until the fourth that Anderson set the Diamondbacks down in order for the first time.

Anderson gave up an RBI single by Gregor Blanco but A.J. Pollock grounded into a double play.

Anderson helped himself in the third after an error by shortstop Trevor Story. Anderson picked Nick Ahmed off second and struck out Jake Lamb and Yasmany Tomas.

NOTES: Rockies RF Carlos Gonzalez was better but did not play for the second straight day (calf soreness). ... Rockies IF Cristhian Adames was outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment. ... Diamondbacks RF Chris Owings was scratched from the lineup (illness). RF Gregor Blanco, who made his Diamondbacks debut Friday, replaced Owings and made his first start for the team.