CINCINNATI
Two baselining blunders and a misplayed fly ball cost the Rockies.
Colorado recovered from a gaffe and rallied from a three-run deficit to tie the score, but Tucker Barnhart’s game-ending single off Christian Bergman gave the Cincinnati Reds a 6-5 victory Wednesday.
Colorado appeared to tie the score 3-3 in the seventh when Dustin Garneau doubled with two outs and pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn lined a single into right field.
But the Reds threw to third before the next pitch, and Garneau was called out on appeal by umpire Adrian Johnson for missing the base. The call was upheld after a 3-minute, 20-second video review.
“I hit the bag,” Garneau said. “I tripped over it. I didn’t go down. I don’t know what the guy saw.”
Colorado manager Walt Weiss was noncommittal.
“I didn’t see much,” he said. “I didn’t look at a replay, except what they had on the (scoreboard). I couldn’t tell whether he hit it or not.”
Consecutive two-out doubles by Adam Duvall, Barnhart and Ivan DeJesus Jr. against Justin Miller put the Reds ahead 5-2 in the bottom half, the first a fly ball that Ben Paulsen lost and landed at the base of the left-field wall.
But Colorado tied the score in a three-run eighth when the first two batters reached against Blake Wood, Gerardo Parra hit into a run-scoring forceout off Tony Cingrani, and Paulsen hit a two-run double. That inning ended when Mark Reynolds was caught off third by Barnhart after the Reds catcher quickly retrieved a pitch that bounced off the bricks behind home plate and caromed back.
Brandon Phillips singled off Christian Bergman (0-3) leading off the ninth and took third when Jay Bruce beat a shift and singled into right field.
With the infield in, Bergman struck out pinch-hitter Scott Schebler. Weiss moved center fielder Brandon Barnes to third base as part of a five-man infield, shifting third baseman Nolan Arenado to shortstop and rookie shortstop Trevor Story to the right side, and Barnhart lined the next pitch into right.
Weiss lamented going 3-3 on the trip instead of 4-2.
“This was a tough loss, but the guys did keep fighting, even after all the crazy stuff happened,” he said.
Ross Ohlendorf (3-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
Reds starter Raisel Iglesias two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and one walk. Colorado’s Chad Bettis gave up three runs and three hits in six innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Bruce and Duvall hit consecutive homered in the second for a 3-0 lead.
Gonzalez’s sixth-inning bloop double to short center was the 1,000th hit of his big league career.
Rockies top-propsect Jon Gray is to be activated from the disabled list to start the opener of Colorado’s three-game series against the Dodgers on Friday in Denver, manager Walt Weiss said. Gray has been sidelined with an abdominal strain.
