Colorado Rockies drop Cactus League opener to the Arizona Diamondbacks

The Colorado Rockies returned to the field Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks in their Cactus League opener. Jordan Lyles would get the (Spring Training) opening day nod for Colorado, throwing two scoreless innings. Colorado ended up taking the loss at Salt River Fields, 6-2.

Jon Gray, Colorado’s number one prospect, spelled Lyles in the third inning and did a good job at that. The flame-throwing right-hander threw two scoreless innings himself, recording two strikeouts and one walk. One of Gray’s strikeouts came against D’Backs cleanup man, Paul Goldschmidt. Here’s what Gray had to say about his 1-2 fastball that struck out Goldy. (Thomas Harding, MLB.com)

"“I was saving that one for him,” Gray said. “I knew I was going to need it."

The pitch that Gray struck out Goldschmidt on was a 97 MPH heater, ending the frame in the third inning.

Jairo Diaz, acquired in the offseason to potentially help out the bullpen, didn’t fair well in his first appearance in a Rockies uniform. The hard-throwing reliever pitched just 2/3 of an inning, giving up three runs on two hits while walking two.

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The Rockies bats were relatively quiet. Colorado didn’t scratch a single run until the ninth inning, where Rafael Ynoa singled on a ground ball up the middle, scoring Kyle Parker. Rodger Bernadina would then ground out to short, scoring Trevor Story from third.

Regulars Corey Dickerson, Nolan Arenado, Drew Stubbs, Wilin Rosario and Brandon Barnes all combined to go 1-for-9 with a walk.

Reliever Tommy Kahnle picked up right where he left off during his rookie campaign. The former rule-5 pick from the New York Yankees pitched a scoreless ninth inning, issuing one hit while striking out two.

The

Rockies return to action Thursday afternoon, this time with Arizona playing as the host. First-pitch is scheduled for 3:10 PM EST, 1:10 PM MST at Salt Rivers Fields.