Before Friday night’s postgame fireworks at Coors Field, the Twins and Rockies put on a pyrotechnic show that rocked LoDo.
The two teams combined for six homers before a sellout crowd of 47,272 that showed up on fan appreciation night.
In the end, however, the game was just another dud for the Rockies, who lost for the 102nd time this season. Minnesota scratched out the winning run in the ninth off Tyler Kinley for a 7-6 victory.
Ryan Jeffers led off the ninth with a single to left and was replaced by pinch-runner Andrew Stevenson. Kyle Farmer reached on a deflected infield single that rolled into shallow right field, allowing Stevenson to advance to third. Stevenson scored on Max Kepler’s sacrifice fly to deep center.
Colorado’s Alan Trejo, who got a rare start at shortstop in place of rookie Ezequiel Tovar, hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give Colorado a 5-4 lead. The lead grew to 6-4 in the fifth when baseman Brendan Rodgers blasted a 454-foot leadoff homer to center. Rodgers has hit four homers in his last nine games.
First baseman Elehuris Montero got the Rockies on the board with a leadoff homer in the second off Minnesota right-hander Joe Ryan. Montero has heated up recently. He tied a career-high with three hits Thursday night against the Dodgers, falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Montero, who now has hit 10 homers, has launched three over his last four games.
Yet for all of the Rockies’ firepower, they couldn’t shake the American League Central champions.
The Twins fired back-to-back rockets in the seventh off reliever Gavin Hollowell to tie the game, 6-6. Pinch-hitter Trevor Larnach hit a one-out solo homer and Jeffers followed with another. The Twins loaded the bases against right-hander Justin Lawrence, who had relieved Hollowell. It looked like the Rockies were headed for another late-game, bullpen implosion, but Lawrence struck out Christian Vazquez and Michael Taylor to extinguish the rally.
Rockies left-hander Ty Blach, making his final start of the season, gave up four runs on seven hits, walked two and fanned four. His big mistake was leaving an 83.7 mph cutter over the plate for Taylor, who mashed it for a two-run homer in the second.
Blach, who began the season at Triple-A Albuquerque, finished his season with a 5.54 ERA.
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Twins TBA at Rockies TBA
6:10 p.m. Saturday, Coors Field
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Neither the Twins nor the Rockies have announced a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game. Colorado manager Bud Black said the Rockies are likely to utilize a bullpen game. Minnesota, winners of the American League Central, will start Pablo Lopez in Game 1 of next week’s wildcard playoff series and Sonny Gray will pitch Game 2, manager Rocco Baldelli said Thursday.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Twins RHP Bailey Ober (8-6, 3.53 ERA) at Rockies RHP Chase Anderson (1-6, 5.42), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
End of regular season
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