The Houston Astros fell to the Colorado Rockies 9-7 on Monday night inside Coors Field in Colorado. The fifth inning was the difference, as Colorado scored eight times in that frame to earn the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Colorado went with right-hander Ryan Feltner on the mound. He struggled to settle in early, and the Astros got to him. Carlos Correa delivered an RBI double while Christian Walker came through with an RBI single. Those two hits gave Houston a 2-0 lead early.
The Astros went with Cody Bolton on the mound, who was called up to start this game as a result of Hunter Brown’s stint on the injured list. Bolton was able to make it through the first inning clean.
Houston would add to the lead with a solo home run from Cam Smith. That made it a 3-0 lead, and Bolton navigated effectively through the Rockies’ lineup the first time through.
In the bottom of the fifth, Colorado created some offense. A single and a walk to start the inning chased Bolton, and Ryan Weiss entered. The Rockies then created an eight-run frame, with the go-ahead RBI double coming from Troy Johnston. Two of those runs were charged to Bolton with the other six going on Weiss’ ledger. The Rockies took an 8-3 lead.
The teams traded runs in the sixth, and Houston grabbed an additional tally in the seventh on an RBI hit from Jose Altuve. That cut the lead to 9-5 as the game headed into the late stages.
The Astros’ offense kept fighting in this one. They added a couple more runs in the eighth. However, they failed to draw closer than 9-7 despite having runners on second and third with just one out. Juan Mejia navigated Colorado out of that jam.
Mejia would work the ninth as well, holding the lead for Colorado and clinching a 9-7 win.
BIG NUMBER: 8
The Rockies came through with eight runs in the fifth inning of this game. Despite another effective day for the Astros’ offense, that frame was too much to overcome on this night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Juan Mejia
On a night where outs were hard to come by, Mejia helped the Rockies out. He got the final five outs, recording the save and securing the win for Colorado.
UP NEXT: Houston and Colorado will meet in game two tomorrow night at 7:40 PM.