DENVER — Jake Cave came through with a bases-loaded single over a five-man infield in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Colorado Rockies an 8-7 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.
Brenton Doyle homered twice and Charlie Blackmon went deep on his birthday for the third time in his career to help Colorado outlast the Brewers.
The win gave the NL-worst Rockies successive victories for the first time in a month.
“It takes an effort like tonight, where we got good starting pitching, we pitched in relief well when we needed to, we got some clutch hitting and we always played good defense,” manager Bud Black said. “That’s what it takes to win games and that’s why we won it, because we did four of those things.”
William Contreras homered among his three hits for Milwaukee, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. Willy Adames had three hits, including an RBI single to ignite a three-run eighth that put the Brewers back in front 7-6.
Doyle homered for the second time in the game, a two-out solo shot in the bottom of the eighth off Elvis Peguero, to produce the fourth tie of the night at 7-all.
Tyler Kinley (4-1) picked up the win with a scoreless 10th inning, getting out of a jam by striking out Garrett Mitchell.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “They hung in there. Got behind early but they came battling back. Had some opportunities but we didn’t execute in the end the way we needed to, and credit the Rockies. They did a great job of coming up with big hits.”
Pinch-runner Aaron Schunk began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second base. He advanced to third when Michael Toglia flied out against Joel Payamps (1-5). Milwaukee then intentionally walked Doyle and Nolan Jones to load the bases. The Brewers brought in an outfielder to load the infield with an extra defender, but Cave lined a clean single into the wide-open outfield to score Schunk with the winning run.
An exuberant Cave said it was the first game-ending hit of his seven-year major league career.
“It’s awesome. I was pumped,” Cave said. “You know, when you’re a little kid, you think about that, they walk a couple guys to get to you and you win the game. I dreamt about it and I hope I get an opportunity to do it again, but it was amazing.”
Milwaukee took a 4-3 lead on Contreras’ solo homer in the fifth, which came after plate umpire Brennan Miller ejected Murphy. Miller tossed the Brewers’ manager for arguing a call that Joey Ortiz ran out of the baseline while eluding pitcher Austin Gomber’s tag on a bunt.
Colorado regained the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth and added another in the sixth on Jones’ run-scoring double.
The Rockies bolted to a 3-0 lead behind Doyle’s two-run drive to straightaway center field off Bryse Wilson in the second and Blackmon’s solo shot off Wilson in the third.
Blackmon, who turned 38 on Monday, got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and drove Wilson’s offering 431 feet to center. He also homered on his birthday in 2022 against Arizona and 2011 versus Kansas City, which was the first of his 14-year major league career.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: Ortiz returned to the starting lineup for the first time since leaving last Wednesday’s game against Texas with neck stiffness. He did make an appearance Saturday as a pinch runner against the Cubs. … Mitchell was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and made his season debut when he entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh. He was placed on the IL in late March with a fractured left index finger.
Rockies: OF Kris Bryant, sidelined the last month because of a bruised left rib, resumed baseball activities for the first time since sustaining the injury. It’s anticipated he’ll go on a minor league rehab assignment before rejoining the big league club. … RHP Germán Márquez is slated to leave for Double-A Hartford in the next day or two for another rehab outing in his ongoing bid to return from Tommy John surgery. Márquez missed most of last season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery in May 2023.
UP NEXT
Game 2 of the four-game series pits Milwaukee LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 11.25 ERA) against RHP Ryan Feltner (1-7, 5.82).
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