The Arizona Diamondbacks opened up a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies with a statement victory. The D-backs provided plenty of fireworks at the dish and had a dazzling performance on the hill.
Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson (6-5) toed the rubber for the opener against the Rockies. Hellickson was dominant for seven innings. He held the Rockies scoreless through four until Rockies starting pitcher Chris Rusin notched an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning. Other than the minor scratch to an otherwise flawless performance, Hellickson would finish surrendering the lone run on three hits and six strikeouts.
Diamondback hitters were finally able to solve Rusin (3-3) in the bottom of the sixth inning. D-Backs catcher A.J. Pollock deposited a solo home run to deep left center to even up the game at 1-1. David Peralta added a two-run triple to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Diamondbacks would tack on four more runs in the seventh inning off of Rockies reliever Scott Oberg.
Rusin, who was very dominant in his own right, completed six innings of work while allowing three runs, (one earned), on six hits and six strikeouts.
Colorado managed only five hits against the stingy Diamondbacks pitching staff. Third baseman Nolan Arenado, who made two uncharacteristic errors, was 1 for 4 with a double. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was 1 for 4 with two strike outs, but he was able to extend his Major League-leading and career-high hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the top of the ninth inning.
On Friday, the Diamondbacks will send Chase Anderson (4-2) to the mound to face Colorado starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick (3-10). The first pitch is slated for 9:40 p.m. EDT at Chase Field. The game can be seen on ROOT Sports and Fox Sports Arizona.