Jake McCarthy was the engine behind the Colorado Rockies' 8-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
The Colorado Rockies evened up their series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday with an 8-6 win at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Rockies will have an opportunity to win the series on Sunday, but first, let’s talk about how they got it done in the second game:
McCarthy’s monster night
Despite logging 10 hits in Friday’s series opener against St. Louis, Colorado could not get more than two runs on the board, and it led to a 3-2 loss. However, the batting order capitalized on its opportunities on Saturday, mainly because of Jake McCarthy.
McCarthy showed the front office why it was a good idea not to move him at the MLB Trade Deadline when he kick-started momentum with a leadoff solo home run in the first inning, and it would only be the beginning of his big night.
After the Cardinals took the lead in the bottom of the first, Colorado responded with a three-run third inning that included a single by McCarthy, a two-RBI double by Cole Carrigg and an RBI single by Hunter Goodman.
The fifth and sixth innings saw more good results for Colorado, and McCarthy came through in a big way with a two-run shot in the top of the sixth to mark his second home run of the game and his 13th of the season. For the Rockies, that would have been enough to get to the finish line.
The Cardinals scored runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings, but they still would not have been able to overcome the damage that McCarthy did in the sixth. Colorado added an insurance run in the ninth, and McCarthy was a contributor once again with a single, a stolen base and a run scored.
McCarthy earned Player of the Game honors for his Herculean effort in which he went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Carrigg was another solid contributor, as he went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Given the bleak outlook regarding the Rockies’ starting rotation, I recently emphasized the responsibility of the offense to help string together wins on this road trip and largely down the stretch of the season.
It was not a great night for starter Kyle Freeland, who allowed three walks, five hits and one earned run in 4.1 innings of work, and the relievers did enough not to let St. Louis run wild, but McCarthy uplifted his team and made sure they have a chance to win the series on Sunday.
