A red sea of Cardinals fans inundated Coors Field Tuesday night, pumped up to cheer on heroes Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Paul Goldschmidt.
And, of course, third baseman Nolan Arenado, the former Rockies star.
But the Cardinals faithful were swamped by Rockies tidal wave that included 22 hits, highlighted by a Rockies record, 495-foot home run to center by Ryan McMahon in the seventh inning. The Rockies beat the Cardinals 16-5.
Colorado has received a career-high, five-hit night from Randal Grichuk, the former Cardinal.
Colorado’s three-run first inning included an error by Arenado and a three-run homer by C.J. Cron, his 23rd homer of the season. Next came Colorado’s nine-run third inning, when they sent 12 batters to the plate and got a three-run blast from Grichuk.
The Rockies tacked on two more runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh when McMahon launched his two-run homer off left-hander T.J. McFarland into the second deck above the visitors’ bullpen. McMahon’s 495-foot homer is the longest by a Rockies player in the Statcast era (since 2015) and the fourth-longest ever in Coors Field history.
The Rockies’ hit parade included a three-run homer by C.J. Cron in the first inning and a big night from Brendan Rodgers, who tied his career-high with four hits, all singles.
Colorado’s nine hits in the third were its most in one inning since June 28, 2019, when it punched out nine hits in the fifth against the Dodgers at Coors Field.
Colorado rookie right-hander Ryan Feltner, back in the starting rotation because of the injury to Chad Kuhl, blanked the Cardinals for the first four innings, allowing just one hit. St. Louis eventually got to him, with Paul DeJong blasting a two-run homer to left in the fifth inning, followed up by a three-run sixth highlighted by an RBI double by Arenado and a two-run single by Andrew Knizer.
The Cardinals came to LoDo having won nine of their last 10 games and riding a seven-game winning streak. Starter Miles Mikolas carried a 2.92 ERA into Coors, but after he was torched for 10 runs on 14 hits in a mere 2 2/3 innings, his ERA rose to 3.50.
Mikolas can be forgiven if he never wants to pitch at Coors again. In four games at 20th and Blake, Mikolas owns a 13.05 ERA.
Coors Field’s Greatest Hits
The longest home runs in Coors Field history
1. 504 feet, Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins, 8/6/16 off Chad Bettis
2. 496 feet, Mike Piazza, Dodgers, 9/26/97 off Darren Holmes
2. 496 feet, Jesus Sanchez, Marlins, 5/30/22 off Ryan Feltner
4. 495 feet, Ryan McMahon, Rockies, 495 feet off (Cardinals) T.J. McFarland
5. 495 feet, Stanton, Marlins 8/17/12, off Josh Roenicke
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