Coors Field was a house of horrors for the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this season. Five straight losses in Denver and eight in a row to the Colorado Rockies had them struggling to stay in the NL playoff chase.
This week Arizona has made itself very comfortable in the visiting clubhouse. Monday’s 8-6 win was followed by Tuesday’s 9-3 rout of the Rockies and gives them a chance for a sweep of the three-game series Wednesday afternoon.
Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray (10-7, 3.99 ERA) will be on the mound against Colorado southpaw Kyle Freeland (3-10, 7.06 ERA). Freeland has struggled for much of the season but has started to show signs of coming around. He got his first win in more than three months when he beat San Francisco on Aug. 4.
He followed that up with a solid start at San Diego on Friday, going six innings and giving up three runs, but took the loss.
Freeland is 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 career starts against Arizona, six of which have come in Denver.
Freeland has served up 22 home runs this season, something that could be a problem with the way the Diamondbacks are swinging the bats. Arizona has seven home runs in the first two games of the series and don’t want to let up.
“In this ballpark, no game is over – no matter what the score is, no matter what inning it is,” said shortstop Nick Ahmed, who has gone deep in both games. Ahmed has seven RBIs in the first two games.
Ray will get his 17th career start against the Rockies, the most he has against any opponent besides the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 16 starts against Colorado, Ray is 5-5 with a 5.21 ERA. He will try to keep Arizona climbing up the NL wild-card standings, where they trail St. Louis by 2 1/2 games for the second wild-card berth.
The Rockies were hoping to be fighting for a playoff position for the third straight season, but a 13-33 record since late June has them looking toward 2020.
That shift in focus ramped up Tuesday when the team selected the contract of catcher Dom Nunez from Triple-A Albuquerque. Veteran catcher Chris Iannetta, who had served as Tony Wolters’ backup for most of the season, was designated for assignment.
Iannetta was with the team when it reached the 2007 World Series and returned to the organization last season.
“He was always there, on my shoulder, being positive,” Wolters said after Iannetta was designated on Tuesday. “He was like another dad to me, and he was always in my corner. He has zero ego and he’s a big teddy bear who’s been playing a long time and has a lot of information to share. I don’t think his career’s done.”
Nunez made a good impression in his major league debut, homering in the eighth inning for his first and only hit of the night while his family watched from the stands.
Colorado could call up a few more prospects before the season ends.
