Rockies stun D-backs with ninth-inning rally at Coors Field

Monday night’s headliner was right-hander Antonio Senzatela on his comeback tour. But it was the Rockies’ ninth-inning rally and another terrific performance by their bullpen that brought down the house.

The Rockies beat the Diamondbacks 3-2 at Coors Field on a throwing error by shortstop Geraldo Perdomo.

The rally began with a leadoff single by Brenton Doyle off reliever Ryan Thompson. Doyle stole second — his second swipe of the night — to get into scoring position. Arizona intentionally walked Ryan McMahon, hoping to set up a double play.

They almost got it when Brendan Rodgers grounded out to second baseman Ketel Marte, who fed Perdomo at the bag, but Perdomo threw wildly past first baseman Christian Walker and Doyle scampered around to score the winning run.

Doyle has 29 stolen bases, the most by a Rockies player since Charlie Blackmon swiped 43 in 2015.

“That’s where speed comes in late in the game,” manager Bud Black said. “We’ve talked about that, where late in the game, speed can generate a run, based on how hard it is against a major league relief pitcher late in the game, in a close ball game.

“So (there were) a lot of good things tonight. There had to be because we had to play well, (because) they played well.”

It was a costly loss for the D-Backs, who are battling for a wild-card playoff spot. They have owned the Rockies of late, going 8-2 in their previous 10 games, and 18-5 in their last 23 since 2023. Arizona was limited to two runs after averaging 8.1 runs per game in its last seven. The D-backs now have just a one-game lead over the Mets for the National League’s final playoff spot.

Colorado’s rebuilt and revitalized bullpen was the main reason the D-backs failed to put the game away after grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

“The bullpen has just been incredible lately,” Black said. “The thing that stood out for me was six innings of rookie pitchers, right? You know, they put up six zeros.”

Lefty Luis Peralta, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning despite giving up a hit and a walk, recorded his 10th consecutive scoreless outing, leaving him one shy of tying Ramon Ramirez for most consecutive scoreless appearances to start a major league career as a Rockie.

Through the first eight innings, the Rockies had only three hits, but two were solo homers.

Ezequiel Tovar led off the fourth with an opposite-field shot to right-center, his 24th homer of the season, tying Michael Toglia for the team lead. Tovar lifted starter Merrill Kelly’s 1-0 slider 416 feet.

“He struck me out twice before, so he’s a really good pitcher,” Tovar said. “My mentality during that at-bat was I needed to make good contact and hit that ball hard. Luckily for me, I was able to hit that home run.”

Rookie catcher Hunter Goodman, who’s impressed Black as he’s received increased playing time in the final month of the season, launched a two-out solo homer to left in the seventh off right-hander Kevin Ginkel.

For the first time in 495 days, Senzatela found himself starting a big-league game. The veteran right-hander, returning from Tommy John surgery he underwent in July 2023, started out shaky but he found some rhythm and ended up with a decent comeback outing. He pitched three-plus innings, allowing two runs on four hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.

Senzatela cut loose with a 98.0 mph fastball in the first inning, his fastest pitch since he threw a 98.1 fastball on Aug. 1, 2022, at San Diego.

“I was still feeling the butterflies, but once you’re in the ballgame you know what you have to do,” Senzatela said. “I think I had a good second and third innings, so that felt good.”

Senzatela said that his arm felt “really good,” and he was ready for his next start.

“I just want to keep getting better with (what’s left) of the season,” he said.

Arizona speedster Corbin Carroll led off the game with a triple, ripping Senzatela’s 0-1 fastball to left-center. Two pitches later, Marte blasted Senzatela’s 1-0 fastball 460 feet to center for a two-run homer.

Senzatela blanked the D-backs for the rest of his start, but he ran into trouble in the fourth. Christian Walker led off with a single and Pavin Smith drew a walk. At 67 pitches (42 strikes), Senzatela’s night was done. Black said pregame that the right-hander would be limited to about 70 pitches.

Overall, Black was pleased with Senzatela’s performance.

“I thought, since his fastball has life again, he was probably a little amped up,” Black said. “I do like the fact that he mixed in some curveballs. He struck out Joc Pederson with a curveball (in the second inning).

“The changeup came into play a little bit, (there were) a couple of good sliders. So I thought his stuff was fine. You know, this was his first major league start in over a year.”

Anthony Molina quickly cleaned up Senzatela’s fourth-inning mess, inducing Jake McCarthy into a double-play grounder and getting Eugenio Suarez to fly out to center.

Kelly pitched a terrific six innings for the D-backs, giving up just two hits, including the solo shot by Tovar. Kelly walked two and fanned five.

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