A leadoff inside-the-park HR off Skenes!? McCarthy's mad dash a memorable feat

DENVER -- The Rockies’ Jake McCarthy sped around the bases and into some history while leading off the bottom of the first inning on Saturday night at Coors Field.

McCarthy lined a pitch from Pirates ace Paul Skenes to deep center, and was able to complete an inside-the-park homer because Jake Mangum’s dive for the ball came up empty.

McCarthy’s inside-the-parker -- the first of his career -- answered the Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz, who opened the top of the first with a homer into the second deck against Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano.

McCarthy didn’t turn off the jets after the homer, either. In the third inning, he knocked a double past diving second baseman Brandon Lowe, and TJ Rumfield’s single drove him in with the deciding run in a 2-1 victory. Sugano shook off Horwitz’s homer to hold the Pirates to one run and six hits with five strikeouts in his six innings.

But for the second straight night, Colorado had to walk the tightrope in the ninth to seal a one-run victory. This time, it was a game-ending interference call. As third baseman Kyle Karros fielded a slow grounder with the bases loaded, the Pirates' Billy Cook appeared to graze Karros’ glove en route to third. The umpires didn't initially call interference but did after consulting -- ending a bases-loaded threat that saw the tying run 90 feet away with nobody out for Pittsburgh.

McCarthy’s early inside-the-park homer ignited the crowd of 40,380.

It was the second first-inning leadoff inside-the-park homer in Rockies history -- Eric Young Jr. had the other on Aug. 8, 2012. It was the 20th inside-the-park homer in Rockies history and the team’s first since Ian Desmond’s on June 14, 2019.

McCarthy’s shot was the third leadoff homer of the year against Skenes and the seventh of his career.

Of course, Skenes is somewhat familiar with odd homer feats against him at Coors. Last year, Jordan Beck’s three-run shot was the first home run of more than two runs off Skenes in his career.

The Rockies-Pirates game marked the second time this year there has been a leadoff homer in the top of the first and bottom of the first in the same game. The Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani accomplished the feat on April 11.