NEW YORK – Sure, hitting a leadoff home run feels great. Charlie Blackmon is also aware there can be a downside to an early dinger.
“Honestly, it’s a real trap,” he said. “If you’re not careful, you can let yourself down or the team down. ... Don’t let the first at-bat affect the next at-bat or the next.”
He didn’t.
Blackmon connected for his 16th career leadoff homer, later hit another solo drive and also made a superb sliding catch in center field as the Colorado Rockies again roughed up the New York Yankees, 8-4 on Tuesday night.
A week after totaling 19 runs and 28 hits while sweeping a two-game series from New York at Coors Field, the Rockies came out swinging in their first visit to Yankee Stadium since 2011.
Nolan Arenado lined his major league-leading 21st homer, got three hits and drove in three runs, giving him an NL-leading 60 RBIs. Blackmon scored three times, and Carlos Gonzalez and DJ LeMahieu each got three of Colorado’s 15 hits.
“Everybody did a tremendous job,” Gonzalez said.
Rockies rookie Trevor Story added a double, along with one of the hardest hits of the night – he banged his face into the dirt on a headfirst slide while stealing second base, and stayed in after being examined by a trainer.
Story also struck out for the 100th time, most in the majors, in 273 at-bats.
The Yankees opened a nine-game homestand with their sixth loss in nine games.
“It’s baseball, it’s what we’ve been going through all year, inconsistency and it’s frustrating for everyone in that room,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Chad Bettis (6-5) beat Ivan Nova (5-5) for the second time in a week. Bettis gave up two earned runs, tied a career best with eight strikeouts and left with an 8-4 lead.
Blackmon began the hit parade by sending a drive high off the foul pole in right field, then got his 10th homer in the fourth. On Monday night at Miami, he homered in the ninth inning as the Rockies launched five solo home runs.
“Carried it over, especially with the power,” manager Walt Weiss said.
Blackmon has four leadoff home runs this season and four multihomer games in his career.
The Rockies scored three times on five hits in the first, with Carlos Gonzalez singling home a run and Mark Reynolds adding an RBI grounder.
Gonzalez hit a rocket double over right fielder Carlos Beltran to start the fifth off Nova, and Reynolds hit an RBI double off reliever Nick Goody a few batters later for a 6-2 lead.
There was a moment of silence before the game for the shooting victims at a gay nightclub in Orlando earlier this month. Girardi and Weiss placed a rainbow wreath over home plate as their teams gathered along the foul lines.
