Goodman leads Rockies past Orioles 4-3 in major league debut as Colorado snaps 6-game skid

By TODD KARPOVICH
Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — Hunter Goodman had a memorable major league debut in front of an ecstatic group of friends and family at Camden Yards.

The 23-year-old Colorado prospect had two hits and RBI, scoring the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning of a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 on Sunday that stopped the Rockies’ six-game losing streak.

“I thought all around it was a good day,” Goodman said. “I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed a good win and being able to contribute in my first big league game.”

Goodman was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 amateur draft and the 23-year-old was at Double-A before he was moved up to Colorado’s top farm team at Albuquerque on Aug. 8. After hitting .371 with nine and 33 RBIs in 15 games with the Isotopes, Goodman was brought up to the Rockies on Sunday when they released Jurickson Profar.

His parents, Stephanie and Robert, were at Camden Yards along with his fiancé, Sydney.

Batting sixth and playing first base, Goodman was 2 for 4. He flied out in the second, struck out in the fifth, hit an RBI single off Ryan Flaherty in the sixth for a 3-1 lead and reached on an infield single against Yennier Cano (1-3) leading off the ninth with the score 4-all.

Goodman advanced on shortstop Gunnar Henderson’s throwing error, took third on Michael Toglia’s groundout and scored on a groundout by Elias Díaz.

“I told him this morning when he came in, ‘There’s no day like your first day, you’ll remember this one,’” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Goodman. “To get your first hit, to score the go-ahead run and to make a diving play on a bullet to the game, there was a lot in there.”

Justin Lawrence (4-6) retired Anthony Santander for the final out of the eighth and struck out two in a perfect ninth.

Colorado (49-81), one loss from its fifth straight losing season, was the first team since 1900 to lose six in a row while holding a lead in the sixth inning or later of all six.

Pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn tied the game 3-3 with an eighth-inning homer off Jake Bird.

“We didn’t adjust very well,” Orioles manager Bradon Hyde said. “I don’t think we swung the bats very well.”

Ryan Mountcastle went 1 for 3 with a walk for AL-best Baltimore (81-49) and has reached base in 34 of his 35 starts since returning from the injured list on July 9.

Rockies starter Ty Blach allowed one and three hits in seven innings with a season-high six strikeouts. He made five starts with the Orioles and entered 0-2 with an 18.47 ERA over 6 1/3 Innings at Camden Yards.

“I felt great today,” Blach said. “I was able to locate all of my pitches, really command the fastball and save the changeup for late, which was really big to get through that top part of the order. It was a really special day, it’s my mom’s birthday as well.”

Brendan Rodgers hit an RBI single in the fourth and Michael Toglia homered for a 2-0 lead in the fifth, but Cedric Mullins homered over the right-field scoreboard in the bottom half.

Flaherty, scratched Wednesday because of what the team called general soreness, allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

BUG PROBLEM

The game was delayed for five minutes in the bottom of the first inning because of a swarm of honey bees in left-center field.

MILESTONE FOR BLACK

Bud Black joined Clint Hurdle as the only person to manage 1,000 games with the Rockies. Black managed 1,362 games with San Diego from 2007-2015 and is the 12th manager to reach the 1,000-game milestone with two clubs.

MOVES

Rockies: Profar hit .236 with eight homers, 39 RBIs and one stolen base after signing a one-year contract as a free agent that paid him $8.75 million, including a bonus.

UP NEXT

Rockies: LHP Austin Gomber (9-9, 5.48 ERA) is to make his team-leading 27th start of the season Monday against the Braves and RHP Bryce Elder (10-4, 3.39 ERA).

Orioles: RHP Grayson Rodriguez will make his second career start against the White Sox on Monday against RHP Michael Kopech (5-11, 4.95 ERA).

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