Charlie Blackmon didn’t have to wait long for a shot at redemption.
The night after Blackmon made a costly error in center field, he hit a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Colorado Rockies held the World Series champion Houston Astros to one hit at Coors Field in a 3-2 victory Wednesday.
Jon Gray pitched seven sharp innings and Carlos Gonzalez also homered for Colorado.
Blackmon, whose fielding error in the 10th opened the door to a big inning in Houston’s 8-2 win on Tuesday, drove a 3-1 pitch from Collin McHugh (5-1) into the Astros’ bullpen for his 20th home run of the season and second career game-ending hit.
“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Blackmon said. “You can stink, which is OK as long as you don’t let that make you stink the next time or the next time after that. That’s what makes baseball great. It’s a long season and it gives you another chance.”
It was a dramatic finish to a wild game in which the Astros had a triple wiped out after a replay review because of fan interference, and the Rockies scored the tying run on a foul popup.
AL MVP Jose Altuve ended up with Houston’s only hit — an RBI double — before leaving with discomfort in his right knee.
“Been bothering him a little bit for a few games now,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Nothing’s wrong with it. He could’ve played through it. He fought to stay in the game, but we felt it was best to take him out and give him a little bit of a blow just given that he was limping.”
Wade Davis (1-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
Leading off the sixth, Alex Bregman cruised into third with an apparent triple off the wall that eluded the leap of Colorado left fielder Gerardo Parra.
Rockies manager Bud Black challenged for fan interference, and Bregman was ruled out after replays showed a spectator clad in an orange Astros jersey extended his glove over the railing enough for the ball to glance off it, changing its trajectory slightly at the moment Parra was reaching up to attempt the catch. The fan was escorted out of the ballpark by security.
After the game, Bregman disagreed heatedly with the decision, saying it changed the game.
“There is no possible way you can say the left fielder jumping backwards into a wall is guaranteed to make the catch,” Bregman said. “We’re up 2-1 at the time. I’m at third base. We need a fly ball to the outfield to get me in and it’s 3-1. It’s horrible.”
Parra, however, said he had a bead on the ball and was stunned when it changed direction at the last moment.
“It almost hit me in the face,” he said. “I thought, ‘What happened? At the last second the ball moved.’ I never saw the fan touch the ball until I saw the replay, but I feel I would have had that ball.”
Colorado tied it 2-all thanks to heads-up baserunning by Raimel Tapia, who tagged up and scored from third when third baseman J.D. Davis sprinted toward the Houston dugout and tumbled over the railing as he caught Nolan Arenado’s foul pop. Davis’ teammate, Evan Gattis, broke his fall and helped push him back over the railing and onto the field, but Davis’ hurried throw home was off target as Tapia slid into the plate.
“It was just smart baserunning by Tapia and a simple wide throw by me,” Davis said.
Colorado grabbed an early lead when Gonzalez led off the second with a home run, his 12th of the season.
The Astros answered in the fourth to go in front 2-1. Bregman walked ahead of Altuve’s run-scoring double. Altuve went to third and Yuli Gurriel reached on first baseman Ian Desmond’s fielding error before Altuve came home with the go-ahead run on Marwin Gonzalez’s groundout.
Both starters pitched well but did not figure in the decision.
Gray allowed one hit and two runs — one earned. Charlie Morton gave up one run on four hits in six innings for Houston.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Altuve left in the bottom of the fifth. He was replaced in the batting order by J.D. Davis.
Rockies: Chad Bettis threw a light bullpen. He’s expected to make a second rehab start this weekend for Triple-A Albuquerque. The first was last Saturday. He threw 70 pitches in four innings but had to stop when a blister on his right middle finger bothered him.
UP NEXT
Astros: After an off day, LHP Dallas Keuchel (8-8, 3.60 ERA) starts Friday night at home against Texas RHP Yovani Gallardo (4-1, 5.56). Keuchel is 5-0 in his last seven starts.
Rockies: Open a three-game interleague series Friday night against Oakland. LHP Kyle Freeland (8-6, 3.28 ERA) faces LHP Sean Manaea (9-6, 3.38). Colorado has won each of Freeland’s last four starts.
AROUND THE MAJORS WEDNESDAY
—All-Star Trevor Bauer helped the Cleveland Indians end the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 11-game winning streak. Bauer struck out 10 while limiting the Bucs to two hits over seven innings of the Indians’ 4-0 shutout victory. Brad Hand fanned three of the four batters he faced for his 25th save of the season and first since being acquired from the Padres.
— Kevin Kiermaier and C.J. Cron homered in the sixth inning as the Rays downed the Yankees, 3-2. Sergio Romo relieved in the eighth inning, shifted to third base when Jonny Venters replaced him in the ninth, then struck out Brett Gardner to end the game with two on. The Yankees are 5 ½ games behind the AL East-leading Red Sox.
— One day after erasing a 10-2 lead, the Athletics wiped out the Rangers’ 5-1 lead in a 6-5 victory at Texas. Khris Davis provided the game-winning homer for the second straight night, a two-out, two-run blast in the ninth. Davis also hit a three-run blast in the seventh and had five RBIs as the Athletics won for the 26th time in their last 33 games.
— Seattle is 27-13 in one-run games after Jean Segura supplied a tiebreaking, RBI single in the eighth inning of a 3-2 victory over the Giants. Segura had two RBIs and Ryon Healy homered as the Mariners gained a split of the two-game series. Winning pitcher Alex Colome worked the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth for his league-best 38th save in 41 chances.
— Carlos Santana delivered a bases-loaded triple that capped the Phillies’ five-run fifth in a 7-3 downing of the Dodgers. Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins hit solo homers to back Jake Arrieta, who gave up two earned runs and five hits over six innings. The outcome gives Philadelphia a 1 ½-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.
— Nick Ahmed’s throwing error in the eighth inning allowed the Cubs to score the tiebreaking run in a 2-1 verdict over the Diamondbacks. Jon Lester bounced back from his worst start of the season by limiting Arizona to a run and four hits while striking out seven over six-plus innings. The loss keeps the DBacks a half-game behind the NL West-leading Dodgers.
— The Cubs now lead the NL Central by 2 ½ games following the Brewers’ 7-3 loss to the Nationals. Bryce Harper’s three-run blast put Washington ahead 6-0 in the fifth inning. Juan Soto also homered, Daniel Murphy lined a two-run single and Tanner Roark struck out 11 over eight shutout innings for his first win in eight starts since June 6.
— Eugenio Suarez and Tucker Barnhart hit two-run homers and Adam Duvall added a solo shot as the Reds whipped the Cardinals, 7-3. Barnhart finished with two RBIs and Scooter Gennett had three hits for Cincinnati, which took the rubber match of the three-game set. Paul DeJong and Yadier Molina hit solo shots in the Cardinals’ eighth loss in 12 games.
— Mitch Garver and Robbie Grossman delivered two-run doubles while the Twins exploded for six runs in the 11th inning of a 12-6 win at Toronto. Max Kepler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the tiebreaking run. The Twins won their third in a row to remain 7 ½ games behind the AL Central-leading Indians.
— Mike Trout has 28 home runs this year after slamming two more to lead the Angels’ 11-3 laugher against the White Sox. Trout was 3-for-4 with a solo shot, a three-run blast, four RBIs and three runs scored to highlight the Halos’ 14-hit attack. Shohei Ohtani smacked a two-run homer and Albert Pujols added a solo shot to help Los Angeles win for just the second time in seven games.
— Jose Iglesias smacked a three-run homer in a four-run fourth that was the difference in the Tigers’ 8-4 win at Kansas City. Matthew Boyd entered the game 4-9 before holding the Royals to two runs over six innings. Mike Moustakas doubled home a run and had two hits what might have been his final home game for the Royals.
— Jose Bautista belted a two-run homer to put the Mets ahead 6-2 in the sixth inning of a 6-4 victory over the Padres. Amed Rosario singled home a pair to cap New York’s four-run fifth after San Diego carried a 2-0 lead into the inning. San Diego native Corey Oswalt allowed two runs and just three hits in five innings to pick up his first major league victory and help the Mets win a series for the first time in two months.
— The Red Sox were leading 5-0 in the second inning when their game with the Orioles was postponed by rain. The game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 11.