Sometimes, the elements can play a factor at Coors Field.
After Friday’s opener of a three-game interleague series between the Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies was postponed because of inclement weather, the grounds crew in Denver spent Saturday afternoon clearing the field of snow.
A first-pitch temperature of 33 degrees and occasional flurries couldn’t stop the Mariners, who beat the Rockies 7-0 and had a season-high 16 hits to extend their winning streak to four games and get back to the .500 mark (10-10) after a sluggish start.
The teams are scheduled to conclude the series with a doubleheader Sunday, when temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-60s.
Seattle’s Luis Castillo pitched seven scoreless innings Saturday, and Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez both had four hits.
“We’re OK on snow games,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais, who played 33 games for the Rockies in 2000 during an 11-year career. “It was wild tonight. It was really cold on the field. I can’t believe the 5 or 6 inches of snow that was on the field at 3 o’clock this afternoon and watched them plow it off. Hats off to the grounds crew because the field was very good for as much snow that came down here. Credit to our guys — we took the elements out of it.”
That was in large part due to Castillo, who earned his first victory of the season.
“It was unbelievable for Luis Castillo to go out there in that kind of weather and perform like that,” Servais said. “I didn’t know what we were going to get out there, but I knew the weather was going to be nasty. But from the get-go, he was very determined, he was locked in.”
Castillo allowed two hits — one of which was a popup that first baseman Ty France lost in the snow — and struck out nine with just one walk.
Castillo said he tried to put the elements out of his mind.
“It was cold, very cold, but when you’re doing something that you love, you don’t want stuff like that to affect you,” he said through an interpreter.
Instead, it was the Rockies who seemed to have difficulties.
Starting pitcher Dakota Hudson walked five over four-plus innings and acknowledged he had problems gripping the ball.
“I can’t really make any excuses out there,” Hudson said. “It was cold, but that’s part of the game. I’ve just got to be better.”
The Rockies committed two errors in losing their sixth game in a row to drop to a National League-worst 4-16.
With the Mariners leading 3-0 and the bases loaded in the fifth inning, the Rockies nearly gave up a Little League grand slam.
Seattle rookie Jonatan Clase lined a single to right. The ball rolled under the glove of outfielder Sean Bouchard, clearing the bases. The speedy Clase was waved home, but second baseman Alan Trejo’s relay throw to catcher Elias Diaz just nipped Clase at the plate.
“You gotta give it a shot,” Servais said of waving Clase home. “He can really run. He can do a lot of fun things. We’re learning more about him. With as fast as he is, it really looks like he is running sideways.”
Sunday’s doubleheader is scheduled to feature a pair of matchups of right-handers.
In the opener, Seattle’s George Kirby (2-2, 6.64 ERA) is set to go against Colorado’s Cal Quantrill (0-2, 5.57). Kirby is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in one previous start against the Rockies; Quantrill is 0-1, 5.65 in four appearances against the M’s, including three starts.
In the nightcap, the Mariners plan to send Emerson Hancock (1-2, 7.98) to the mound against the Rockies’ Peter Lambert (2-0, 2.31). Neither Hancock nor Lambert has faced the opponent before.
The Rockies hope to have second baseman Brendan Rodgers back after he missed the past four games with an illness.
“Rodgers is better,” Rockies manager Bud Black said Saturday. “Just wanted to give him one more day to gain some more strength.”
–Field Level Media
