Marte, Gallen Lead Diamondbacks Past Rockies 5‑4

PHOENIX (Interstat) — Zac Gallen pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball and Ketel Marte homered in the fourth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night at Chase Field.

The Diamondbacks evened the four-game series at a game apiece after losing the opener 3-2 on Friday. Arizona improved to 27-24, while Colorado dropped to 20-33.

Gallen allowed six hits and three earned runs, striking out six and walking one. He earned his third win against four losses. Michael Lorenzen took the loss for the Rockies, falling to 2-7 after allowing five runs on eight hits over five innings. Paul Sewald pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 12th save, striking out one.

Marte went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a home run, leading an 11-hit Diamondbacks attack. Nolan Arenado drove in two runs with a double. TJ Rumfield homered for the Rockies and finished 3 for 4 with an RBI. Colorado managed eight hits.

The Rockies struck in the first inning but could not push across a run. Jake McCarthy flew out, Hunter Goodman singled, and TJ Rumfield flew out sharply before Tyler Freeman lined out to end the inning. Arizona threatened in the bottom of the first when Ketel Marte singled and Corbin Carroll doubled, putting runners at second and third with one out. Geraldo Perdomo grounded to first, and Nolan Arenado reached on a fielder’s choice that cut down Marte at the plate, leaving the game scoreless.

Both teams went quietly in the second inning. Colorado struck out three times in the top of the third, setting the stage for Arizona’s breakthrough in the bottom half. Ryan Waldschmidt led off with a single, and Marte walked. After Corbin Carroll struck out, Perdomo singled to left to score Waldschmidt, moving Marte to second. Arenado then doubled to left, driving in Marte and Perdomo to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead.

The Rockies answered in the fourth. Goodman singled, Rumfield singled, and Freeman walked to load the bases. Troy Johnston singled to right, scoring Goodman and keeping the bases loaded. Ezequiel Tovar grounded into a force out, scoring Rumfield to cut the lead to 3-2. Sterlin Thompson walked to reload the bases, but Chad Stevens struck out and Kyle Karros flew out to end the inning.

Arizona regained control in the bottom of the fourth. After Jose Fernandez flew out, Tim Tawa singled. Ryan Waldschmidt struck out, but Marte followed with a two-run homer to right field, his eighth of the season, pushing the Diamondbacks ahead 5-2.

Colorado chipped away in the sixth. Johnston singled, advanced to third on a groundout by Tovar, and scored on a groundout by Thompson to make it 5-3. The Rockies threatened again in the eighth when Rumfield led off with a solo home run to left-center, his seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Tyler Freeman singled and Johnston walked, bringing the tying run to second with one out. But Tovar bunted into a force out, Thompson grounded out, and Stevens flew out to end the inning.

Sewald retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out Goodman to end the game.

Keegan Thompson pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Colorado, allowing three hits and striking out two. Kevin Ginkel tossed a scoreless inning for Arizona, and Seth Halvorsen recorded one out on a strikeout.

The win gave Arizona its second victory in the last three games against Colorado, splitting the season series so far at three wins apiece. The Rockies have lost 13 of their last 17 games.

Arizona opened the scoring with a three-run third inning, but the pivotal moment came in the fourth when Marte’s two-run homer gave the Diamondbacks the lead for good. Marte connected on a 2-1 pitch from Lorenzen, sending a fly ball over the right-field fence to score Tawa and put Arizona ahead 5-2. The blast erased Colorado’s momentum after the Rockies had scored two runs in the top of the inning and turned a one-run deficit into a three-run lead.

The Diamondbacks’ bullpen held the Rockies scoreless over the final three innings after Gallen departed. Brandon Pfaadt allowed an unearned run in 1 2/3 innings, and Ginkel worked a scoreless seventh before Sewald closed it out.

The announced attendance was 33,891, and the game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Arizona 7, Colorado 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Arizona a 72.30 percent probability to win. The Diamondbacks were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of nine runs went over the over-under line of 9.5.