DENVER (AP) - Rookie pitcher Antonio Senzatela got things rolling for the Colorado Rockies with both his arm and bat.
Senzatela hit a three-run double for the Rockies’ first runs of the game, Mark Reynolds homered twice to drive in five runs, and Colorado beat the Cleveland Indians 11-3 Tuesday night.
“Anytime you get a bases-clearing double early in the game to give you a lead, it’s huge and you don’t expect that, obviously, out of the pitcher against a guy like (Mike) Clevinger who has a good arm, good stuff,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “But it happens. That’s baseball.”
Carlos Gonzalez also hit a home run for the Rockies, who can sweep the two-game interleague set on Wednesday.
Bouncing back from a loss in his previous outing, Senzatela (8-2) allowed three runs in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked one in continuing to lead major league rookie pitchers in wins this season while also opening the scoring for Colorado.
After Clevinger (2-3) intentionally walked Tony Wolters to load the bases in the second inning, Senzatela jumped on the first pitch, driving it into the right-center gap to clear the bases. It was the first career double for Senzatela, who clapped his hands in celebration after rolling into second base.
Asked if he felt better about the hit or his pitching, Senzatela smiled and said he couldn’t decide.
“Both felt good,” he said.
The feeling was just the opposite for Clevinger, who allowed five runs and four hits in four innings, including the double to his counterpart.
“That was a tough pill to swallow,” he said. “I don’t have many words for that. I just left a fastball over the plate and the pitcher got three RBIs.”
Nolan Arenado was aboard with a walk when Gonzalez connected for his fifth home run of the season in the third.
However, the win did not come without some cost. Left fielder Gerardo Parra left the game after making the last out of the third inning when he pulled up during an attempted steal of second base with a right quad strain. He was replaced by Ian Desmond.
Black said after the game that Parra was headed for the disabled list.
“We’re hoping for the best on this one, that it’s a mild strain,” Black said. “Hopefully, he’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”
Lonnie Chisenhall, who came off the concussion disabled list earlier in the day, hit a solo home run for the Indians in the fifth inning. Bradley Zimmer added a two-run homer in the seventh.
Reynolds answered Chisenhall’s homer with a three-run drive off Zach McAllister in the bottom of the fifth.
Reynolds added a two-run homer in the seventh for his 24th career multihomer game and the first of this season. The five RBIs in the game matched a career best.
He has 16 homers so far this year, surpassing his total (14) from all of last season with Colorado.
Colorado was swept in the three-game set in Cleveland during the teams’ most recent meeting in 2014, but the Rockies have fared better at home, where they extended their winning streak against the Indians to seven games.
REYNOLDS’ NIGHT:
Reynolds’ big night coincided with a Rockies promotion in which fans received a Mark Reynolds’ T-shirt and that was on his mind after he began the game with strikeouts in his first two at-bats.
“I was thinking in my head, ’It’s my T-shirt night. I can’t punch out three times.’”
Reynolds averted that by driving McAllister’s 3-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers just inside the foul pole.
TRAINER’S ROOM:
Indians: RHP Danny Salazar (right shoulder soreness) was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, and will report to Double-A Akron for rehab work.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis rejoined the team to begin rehab after finishing chemotherapy in Arizona to treat testicular cancer. Bettis, 28, threw off flat ground and lifted weights at Coors Field earlier Tuesday. There is no timetable for his return to action. … RHP Jon Gray, sidelined since mid-April with a stress fracture in his left foot, threw a 35-pitch simulated game Tuesday at Coors Field in a major step toward his return from the disabled list. “I’m headed in the right direction,” Gray said. Gray is expected to make several rehab starts in the minors before being activated.
UP NEXT:
Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (5-4, 5.83 ERA) will be pitching on two days’ rest. He last faced the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, but went just 1 2/3 innings before a rain delay stopped the game and finished his appearance. Bauer is the first Indians pitcher to make two starts in four days since Justin Masterson did so under similar circumstances in August 2011.
Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (6-3, 3.53 ERA) enters the game with a 2-0 record and a 3.75 ERA in two previous interleague starts this season.
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