Rockies Game: The Night Shohei Never Gave Up
A heartbreaking 3-4 loss... but Shohei laid down a gritty hit in the 9th, keeping us on the edge of our seats to the very end. We jumped out early only to cough up the lead, but that late-inning fight was something to behold. We couldn't finish it off at Coors Field — let's get 'em back next time.
Highlights
- Two outs in the 9th, Shohei rocketed a 110.4 mph line-drive single to center — never-say-die attitude all the way
- Tucker's first-inning homer and Rushing's second-inning homer gave us a 3-1 lead at one point
- Johnston's go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the 6th flipped the script, and we dropped it 3-4
Aaah, so frustrating! But man, that hit from Shohei was electric
Ugh, we dropped it 3-4... Away game at Coors Field, nail-biter right to the end, but we came up just short. Still, that last at-bat from Shohei — that was absolutely thrilling. Let me walk through it in order.
Early lead in the 1st! And then...
Top of the 1st, Shohei smacked a 95 mph fastball on the first pitch! 82 mph exit velocity on a grounder to short, reached on an error. A grounder at minus-26 degrees forcing an error — that's how much juice he puts on the ball. Then Tucker went deep for a first-inning home run to make it 2-0! I thought "yeah, we got this"...
Bottom half, Ranfield drove one in for an RBI, 2-1. Aw man, answered right back.
Rushing kept it rolling in the 2nd! But then...
Top of the 2nd, Rushing's home run made it 3-1! Alright, let's keep it going! — but in the bottom half, Carroll's sac fly made it 3-2. Something felt off already...
In the 3rd, Shohei got fooled by an 80 kph curve and rolled over a weak grounder. 73 mph exit velo. No worries! On to the next!
That heartbreaker in the 5th
Top of the 5th, Shohei crushed one at 96.7 mph, but it came off at 38° — just got under it a touch. 332 feet of distance. Come on, this is Coors Field! So close!!
Then the 6th, the dreaded lead change...
Bottom of the 6th, Johnston laced an RBI double to make it 3-4. Aw, no way... they took the lead...
Top of the 9th — SHOHEI! SHOHEI! SHOHEI!
In the 8th, Shohei reached on a catcher's interference (classic Shohei — swings so fast he clips the mitt). Then with two outs in the top of the 9th, Shohei ripped a base hit to center! He ambushed a changeup that came after a 100 mph fastball — 110.4 mph exit velocity, minus-2 degree grounder shooting through. THAT'S what I'm talking about! Classic Shohei, the man who never quits.
I thought maybe we could string something together... but we came up just short. Ball game, 3-4.
On to the next one!
We lost, but that final swing from Shohei alone was worth a cold one. That 110 mph statement of grit — just seeing that will get me through tomorrow. We've got more games against the Rockies, and we're gonna get 'em back, Dodgers!