D-backs squander 5-run lead in solid start from Gallen, lose to Rockies

DENVER (AP) — C.J. Cron hit a pair of three-run homers, including a go-ahead shot in the eighth, and the Colorado Rockies rallied for a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Cron’s 16th multihomer game helped the Rockies come back from a 5-0 deficit. Cron instantly knew he got all of a breaking ball from Noé Ramirez, who was entered in the eighth due when reliever Ian Kennedy got hurt.

Cron also lined a three-run homer in the sixth to start the comeback.

Jake Bird (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth and Daniel Bard earned his 16th save in 18 chances by getting Daulton Varsho to ground out with the bases loaded.

The game turned in the eighth when Kennedy got one out and had a 3-2 count on Yonathan Daza. Kennedy grabbed at his right knee, was checked by an athletic trainer and left the game for Ramirez (2-2), who was allowed to take all the warmup pitches he needed.

The right-hander surrendered a single to Daza and another to Charlie Blackmon before Cron’s drive. Cron instantly tossed his bat and looked at the Rockies dugout as he trotted down the first-base. Ramirez didn’t record an out in surrendering three runs as the Rockies took two of three from the Diamondbacks.

David Peralta had a grand slam off starter Chad Kuhl in the fifth inning to stake the Diamondbacks to a 5-0 lead. It was his first grand slam in nearly seven years and third of his career.

Zac Gallen turned in another solid performance at hitter friendly Coors Field. He baffled the Rockies into the sixth, before Cron’s two-out homer.

Gallen went six innings, walked two and struck out four. Last August, Gallen became the first Diamondbacks pitcher to throw at least seven scoreless innings in a start at Coors Field.

Kuhl unraveled in the fifth when he allowed two singles and a walk to pave the way for Peralta. His homer to right-center went an estimated 452 feet.

The right-handed Kuhl lasted five innings and surrendered five runs. He was coming off a three-hit shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers last Monday.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: Lefty Madison Bumgarner (3-8, 3.63) starts Monday against the San Francisco Giants. He’s surrendered two runs or less in seven of his eight home starts.