Here’s a sight for sore eyes: Chris Iannetta is seeing the ball a whole lot clearer since recently switching contacts.
Like homer-through-rain-drops sort of vision.
Iannetta hit a two-run shot in the seventh on a cool and drizzly Tuesday evening, sending the Colorado Rockies to a 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The veteran catcher lined a curve from Merrill Kelly over the left-field fence for his fourth homer of the season.
“Kind of one-handed it,” said Iannetta, who was a late addition to the lineup due to Tony Wolters’ bruised right hand. “But I knew I hit it pretty good. It was just a matter of if I hit it too high.”
He didn’t.
Although, Kelly thought maybe it would stay in the park.
“I thought it got in on him a little bit,” Kelly said. “But when I saw it went over, it was tough.”
Early in the season, Iannetta used a less powerful contact prescription only to notice some eye fatigue. When he went on the injured list (strained lat) in April, he discovered a supply of contacts in his old prescription and decided to switch. He’s hitting .323 with three homers since his return from the injured list.
“It’s been a big thing that’s relaxed me behind the plate and offensively,” Iannetta said. “That’s helped me a lot.”
This was another late-inning rally for the Rockies, who improved to 4-1, including three walk-off wins, on their 10-game homestand. Ryan McMahon added some insurance runs with a two-run, eighth-inning double in a game where the temperatures dipped into the mid-40s and the rain steadily picked up intensity.
After a solid outing by starter Antonio Senzatela, the bullpen took over. Jairo Diaz (1-0) earned his first career win and Chad Bettis picked up his first-ever save by throwing two scoreless innings.
Eduardo Escobar hit his 13th homer of the season for Arizona. He also had an RBI single.
A light rain began falling around the fifth and steadily strengthened as fans headed for cover. The announced crowd of 21,583 was something far less when Bettis retired Escobar on a grounder to end the game.
To keep warm, Escobar and Ketel Marte wore ski masks. Same with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and some of the umpiring crew. The players also stuck their throwing hands in their back pockets in between pitches.
“With the rain and the wind, it was a little gnarly,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “The field held up pretty well.”
Kelly (4-6) had an efficient outing going before Iannetta’s homer. The right-hander went 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs.
“I felt like he was in control of the day and he deserved that opportunity,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of why he left in Kelly. “Even though he was at a 100 pitches, I felt like he was in command of the ball game.”
UP NEXT
Rockies righty Jeff Hoffman (0-1, 8.10 ERA) makes his third start of the season Wednesday against Arizona. The Diamondbacks will throw left-hander Robbie Ray (4-1, 3.26), who has 50 strikeouts over his last seven starts.
AROUND THE MAJORS TUESDAY
–Yolmer Sanchez provided the closing act in his two-day performance, hitting an RBI single in the ninth inning that sent the Chicago White Sox over the Kansas City Royals 2-1 Tuesday in the resumption of a suspended game.
Getting the field into shape was quite a chore after play was stopped Monday in the bottom of the fifth with a runner on second and two outs following two long rain delays totaling about four hours. The game resumed at 5:40 p.m. EDT, ahead of the regularly scheduled night matchup.
With a handful of fans in the stands, Sanchez came through again in the ninth against Kevin McCarthy (1-2) with the bases loaded.
_ Michael Conforto’s first career grand slam snapped a seventh-inning tie and the New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3. Conforto struck out twice but his five RBIs helped the Mets end a six-game road skid.
_ Nomar Mazara and Ronald Guzman homered and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 11-4 Tuesday night, improving to 3-1 this season when using an opener instead of a starting pitcher. The Rangers are 6-3 using the opener approach since last September.
_ Roberto Perez and Greg Allen homered for Cleveland during a five-run ninth inning as the Indians rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5. Jordan Luplow added a two-run double after Cleveland tied it and Brad Hand survived a bit of a shaky ninth for his 14th save, completing a rare come-from-behind win for the Indians on a rough night for relievers.
_ Alex Bregman homered twice, his second a tiebreaking two-run shot in the sixth inning that propelled the injury-weakened Houston Astros to a 9-6 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Bregman, who is tied for the American League lead with 17 homers, got his first in the third inning off starter Jon Lester (3-4). It was tied at 6-6 when he connected on Brad Brach’s first pitch for the second.
_ Jorge Alfaro and Garrett Cooper hit the Miami Marlins’ first three-run homers of the year in an 11-3 win over the San Francisco Giants, who lost their sixth game in a row. Trevor Richards gave up a homer to Joe Panik on the game’s first pitch but blanked San Francisco thereafter. He allowed two hits and one run in seven innings for the Marlins, who earned their eighth victory in 11 games but still have the worst record in the National League.
_ Devin Smeltzer added another chapter to his inspiring comeback story, pitching six shutout innings in his big league debut and helping the Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3. Diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized cancerous tumor against his bladder when he was just 9 years old, Smeltzer wasn’t deterred in his goal to reach the majors. The 23-year-old allowed three hits, walked none and struck out seven. The lanky left-hander threw 69 pitches, 53 for strikes.
_ Derek Dietrich hit three homers – all two-run shots for Cincinnati – and the Pittsburgh Pirates suffered yet another injury to their rotation as the Reds pulled away to an 11-6 victory. Dietrich connected in the fourth off Jordan Lyles, who was replaced after the inning because of discomfort in his left hamstring.
_ Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer during a big first inning against Masahiro Tanaka, and San Diego manager Andy Green burned through his bullpen to help the Padres hold off the New York Yankees 5-4 on a soggy night. New York tried to rally in the rain, getting three runs in the seventh inning.
_ Matthew Boyd took a five-hitter into the seventh inning, Niko Goodrum homered and the Detroit Tigers interrupted a prolonged slump by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 3-0. JaCoby Jones had two doubles and an RBI for the Tigers, who won for only the second time in 14 games since May 12. Boyd struck out eight and allowed six hits in six-plus innings.
_ Cesar Hernandez hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Nick Pivetta threw five tough innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the slumping St. Louis Cardinals 4-3. Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna hit homers in the first inning but the Cardinals blew a 3-0 lead in their 11th loss in 15 games.
_ Austin Meadows homered for the third straight game and five Tampa Bay pitchers combined to throw a six-hitter and beat struggling AL East rival Toronto 3-1. The second-place Rays won for the fourth straight time, improving to a season-best 13 games over .500 before a crowd of just 5,786 at Tropicana Field.