Merrill Kelly threw a complete game and the Diamondbacks rolled past the Rockies 9-1 on Friday night at Coors Field, turning a matchup that began with an early scare into a one-sided finish. Kelly gave up a two-out solo homer to Hunter Goodman in the first inning, then shut Colorado down the rest of the way.
Kelly, who entered the night with a 2-3 record and a 7.62 ERA, finished with four hits allowed, no walks and two strikeouts over 100 pitches. He walked off the mound in the ninth with a victory shout after retiring the side and giving Arizona an outing that was far cleaner than his numbers suggested going in.
The weight of the night came from how quickly the game swung away from Colorado. Kyle Freeland allowed six runs on five hits in the first inning alone, and the Diamondbacks never looked back. He was charged with seven earned runs on eight hits and four walks, falling to 1-5 with a 7.22 ERA. Since returning from the injured list on April 28 after a shoulder injury, Freeland is 0-4 with an 11.50 ERA in four starts.
The Rockies did not disappear completely. Kyle Karros had a one-out single to center in the third, and Ezequiel Tovar lined a two-out double to right-center in the fifth. Sterlin Thompson made his big-league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and grounded out to first base on Kelly’s first-pitch curveball. But those were brief interruptions in a game that had already slipped out of reach.
Colorado’s problems at home kept piling up. The Rockies fell to 7-11 at Coors Field after losing for the seventh time in eight games there, and the announced crowd of 27,557 watched another night that exposed how thin the margin is for a club already playing from behind. Kelly’s performance also came after earlier attention on the matchup in a preview of the game and another look at how the right-hander might carry his rebound against Colorado at Coors Field.
The scoreline was harsh, but it fit the night. Kelly looked like a pitcher in command, Freeland looked trapped by the same issues that have followed him since April 28, and the Rockies were left with another home loss that deepens the sense that this is still an extremely flawed team. Arizona did not need much beyond a steady arm and an early lead. It got both, and then more.
