DENVER (AP) — Jon Gray took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and got his first win of the season, pitching the Colorado Rockies over the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3 on Thursday.
Gray (1-0) allowed three runners through six innings, helped in the sixth when third baseman Ryan McMahon made a barehanded grab of Tim Locastro’s grounder and threw out the speedy batter by a half-step.
“That was an unbelievable play. That fired me up,” Gray said. “I looked at the scoreboard and I was like, ‘Wow, he just saved that right there.’ That’s when I realized it was happening.”
Gray threw 83 pitches through six innings in his second start of the season and was bidding to become the second Colorado pitcher to throw a no-hitter after Ubaldo Jiménez against Atlanta on April 17, 2010.
“I knew it was a little high,” Gray said of his pitch count. “I still thought there was a good chance to at least go eight. That was what I was shooting for. That’s something to work for. Next time I’m in that situation, I’ll be really bearing down.”
David Peralta tripled leading off the seventh when he sent a 1-2 slider into the gap in left-center field. Pavin Smith hit an RBI single on the next pitch.
The sparse crowd of 10,836 at Coors Field gave Gray a standing ovation after Peralta’s hit. Gray walked pinch-hitter Asdrúbal Cabrera with two outs, and got another ovation when he walked to the dugout to make way for Yency Almonte.
“It was a well-pitched game. He followed up what he did last week, which was great,” manager Bud Black said. “That was good to see back-to-back good starts by Jon.”
Daniel Bard relieved with two on in the ninth and got the two outs for his second save.
Merrill Kelly (0-2) gave up seven runs — six earned — and nine hits in six…
Leave a Reply