Angels emphatically end Colorado Rockies’ six-game winning streak
DENVER – Rene Rivera had a big hand in this win even if it was tender and sore after the game.
It’s not every day a catcher gets hit by two foul tips in the same inning and in the same spot.
Rivera shook off the pain in his right thumb and later hit a solo homer as he helped the Los Angeles Angels beat Colorado 8-0 on Wednesday to end the Rockies’ six-game winning streak.
“Nothing to worry about,” Rivera said after returning from the X-ray room. “I can’t remember (if that’s happened before). Probably. We get hit a lot.”
Rivera took a foul tip off the bat of Trevor Story in the fourth. After a visit from the trainer, Rivera threw one of his practice tosses into left field.
Soon after, Chris Iannetta’s foul tip struck Rivera in the same spot, with the ball rolling up his arm. Rivera held on to it in the crook of his arm to record the strikeout.
“I don’t know how I caught it,” Rivera said.
His hand throbbing in the seventh, Rivera drove a fastball from Chris Rusin over the fence in right-center for his second homer this season.
“There’s a huge knot on his hand,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I was expecting he was going to come out the game. He said, ‘Let me try it.’ He ended up playing a great game.”
Jaime Barria (3-1) allowed five hits and struck out seven over 51/3 innings. Relievers Justin Anderson, Jose Alvarez and Akeel Morris allowed three hits the rest of the way as the Angels improved to 14-4 on the road.
It was another gem for Barria, who took a no-hitter into the sixth against Baltimore in his previous start. The right-handed Barria kept the Rockies off balance by relying on a sneaky slider and fastball that was in the low 90s.
“He was great,” Rivera said. “Came out attacking the zone.”
Zack Cozart and Justin Upton both homered in the third to make it a 4-0 game – more than enough for Barria.
Tyler Anderson (2-1) struggled over five innings and allowed four runs. His outing snapped Colorado’s string of nine straight quality starts.
Ian Desmond had a rough day at the plate, striking out four times and leaving six runners on base. Desmond is hitting .176.
“Today it looked like he wasn’t seeing the slider,” explained manager Bud Black, whose team was 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position. “He will turn up tomorrow.”
Trainer’s room: Rockies: Second baseman DJ LeMahieu was out of the starting lineup a day after coming off the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. “We planned this,” Black said.
Ohtani mania: Right-hander Shohei Ohtani drew quite a crowd for his bullpen session behind the fence in right-center. Fans leaned over the railing to get a better look at his pitches.
Asked if he would have liked to see Ohtani pitch at Coors Field, Scioscia responded: “It would have been an advantage to have a pitcher like Shohei being able to hit. He would give you a lot of offensive advantage. But it didn’t work out.”
Ohtani, who didn’t start because there is no designated hitter in NL parks, came up as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and sharply singled.
Streak stopped: Cozart led off the game with a double and was brought in by Mike Trout. That halted a streak of 24 straight scoreless innings by Colorado’s starters at home. The previous time a Rockies starter allowed a run at Coors Field was when Chad Bettis surrendered four in the first inning on April 23 against San Diego.
Up next: The Rockies will see a familiar face Thursday when Jhoulys Chacin throws for Milwaukee.
Chacin was with the Rockies from 2009-14.
Los Angeles Angels’ Zack Cozart, front, crosses home plate to score on a single hit by Mike Trout as Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta looks for the throw in the first inning of an interleague baseball game Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tyler Anderson deliver a pitch to Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout in the first inning of an interleague baseball game Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia leans over the dugout rail as he looks on against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of an interleague baseball game Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jaime Barria delivers a pitch to Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)