The difficulties of life are never far from the heart of Rockies rookie left fielder Sam Hilliard, and the fight against ALS has connected him to Athletics outfielder Stephen Piscotty. But at least on Tuesday night, Hilliard got to enjoy himself in his favorite way possible.
Hilliard swatted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth, to break an early tie and lead the Rockies to an 8-3 victory over the A's at the Oakland Coliseum. Hilliard’s first home run of the season came a few innings after his first hit of the year, a second-inning double.
Before starring in the Rockies’ third straight victory, Hilliard, whose father, Jim, is battling the neuromuscular disease, and his family’s fundraising Twitter account, @TeamHilliardALS, tweeted about ALS Cure Project Day with the A’s, which is benefitting from MLB auctions in 2020. Piscotty, who lost his mother to the disease, is part of the fundraising, and players from both teams offered items. Piscotty did not play Tuesday.
The Rangers invited Hilliard’s parents -- Jim and his mother, Tamara, and his fiancé, Kat Minnerly -- to exhibition games and the regular-season opener at new Globe Life Field. It was no small undertaking, considering that fans aren’t allowed in ballparks because of the pandemic. But Hilliard delivered his hits in the presence of Piscotty, a confidant in the real-life struggle.
“We actually got to meet in Spring Training at his family’s golf tournament that they host with Brandon Crawford of the Giants,” Hilliard said. “They’re really great people. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. I know my mom and my parents are kind of in contact with his dad.
“I’ll maybe say what's up tomorrow, and go from there.”
What was up Tuesday was Hilliard’s ability to drive the ball where it is pitched. He took a curve from A's starter David Mengden the opposite way to left for his double. Mengden then hung a curve, and Hilliard crushed it into the right-field seats. One swing led to the other.
“I definitely like to pride myself on being able to go all over the field,” he said. “I know whenever I start hitting balls to left field like that -- pretty hard for power, off the wall or for a home run or anything like that -- that’s when I start feeling good. I know my swing is getting in the right spot.”
Senzatela’s steps
Righty Antonio Senzatela displayed his improved pitch mix -- strategic use of a curveball that he began incorporating last September, and a rediscovered changeup -- while throwing 86 pitches and giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits and three walks in six innings. He used a curve to induce a popup from Khris Davis to end the first inning with the bases loaded. He escaped trouble in the fourth with a strikeout and the fifth with a double-play grounder, both also against Davis.
“I just put it in my mind, like, 'I need to make a nice pitch here,' because I know if I hang something he can capitalize on it really well,” Senzatela said. “I did that. I won the battle with him."
Bottom of the order, on top of things
Ryan McMahon, Raimel Tapia and Hilliard went 0-for-23 in the season-opening series at Texas, and McMahon and Tapia still looked just a tick away from production while fanning consecutively in the second.
But Tapia’s single, right before Hilliard’s homer, began his two-hit night with an RBI on a sacrifice fly, and McMahon found his swing with singles in two important innings -- one to load the bases in the two-run fifth, another a part of the three-run eighth. Also, nine-hole hitter Tony Wolters provided an eighth-inning run-scoring double, marking the second straight game the catcher has driven in a late run.
More late arms?
It’s not just that the Rockies bullpen has given up only two runs in 13 2/3 innings. It’s the indication that two more pitchers may be ready for late-game roles that leaves manager Bud Black encouraged.
In Sunday afternoon’s 5-2 victory at Texas, righty Yency Almonte, whom the Rockies fed a few high-leverage innings last season, entered with a two-run lead in the seventh and fanned three in two scoreless innings. On Tuesday, Tyler Kinley, an offseason waiver claim from the Marlins who arrived with a reputation for an effective slider but also a high walk total, showed his best stuff while striking out two in the sixth inning.
“Over time, all these guys are going to be in games. We know that, especially when we get into August and we have this string of games with no days off,” Black said.