Rockies 5 - 4 Diamondbacks
Final
  for this game

Morneau homers as Rockies hold off D-backs

Apr 28, 2015 - 5:38 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer as the Colorado Rockies held off the Arizona Diamondbacks for a 5-4 win Monday in the opener of a three-game set.

Corey Dickerson finished 3-for-5, Nolan Arenado brought home a run and Troy Tulowitzki scored twice for the Rockies, who have won four of their last five games.

Starter Tyler Matzek (2-0) earned the win after surrendering just two runs on five hits and three walks, but exited the game after throwing one pitch in the sixth inning because of a left hamstring cramp.

Ender Inciarte, A.J. Pollock and Tuffy Gosewisch each had an RBI and Mark Trumbo doubled twice in Arizona's fourth straight loss. Starter Chase Anderson (0-1) allowed all five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings.

"The guys battled," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. "I thought (Anderson) settled down after the first few innings."

The Rockies got off to a quick start with a three-run first inning. With one out, Dickerson singled up the middle, Tulowitzki walked and Morneau brought them home with a blast to right-center field.

In the second, Matzek, Charlie Blackmon and Dickerson hit three straight singles to plate another run for Colorado.

Arizona cut the deficit in the half during the fifth. Gosewisch worked a leadoff walk and Nick Ahmed singled. The runners moved up a base on Anderson's sacrifice bunt and crossed the plate on Ender Inciarte's groundout and Pollock's single.

Tulowitzki opened the sixth with a double to right, advanced to third on a Morneau single and scored on Arenado's sac fly for a 5-2 score.

The Diamondbacks got the run back in the bottom half as Yasmany Tomas walked to lead off and later came on Gosewisch's groundout.

In the eighth, Trumbo doubled off the wall in center, moved to third on Tomas' groundout and scored after Tulowitzki misplayed Gosewisch's grounder at shortstop to make it a 5-4 game.

Arizona threatened in the ninth with runners on the corners and two outs after Inciarte and Paul Goldschmidt each singled, but John Axford notched his third save of the season after getting Trumbo to ground out for the final out.

Game Notes

The Rockies went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while the Diamondbacks went 1-for-13 ... Pollock extended his hitting streak to seven games ... Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 and has now reached base safely in his last 18 games against the Rockies ... Anderson became the first pitcher in franchise history to begin his career with 25 straight starts ... Arizona has been outscored 19-6 in its four-game slump.






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