Jake McCarthy of the Colorado Rockies steals second base against Ernie Clement of the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning on Monday.Mark Blinch/Getty Images
Troy Johnston’s two-run homer ignited a seven-run sixth inning as the Colorado Rockies rolled past the Toronto Blue Jays 14-5 on Monday.
Braxton Fulford followed Johnston’s bomb with an RBI single, then Willi Castro and Ezequiel Tovar each had two-run doubles as Colorado (1-3) took an eight-run lead in the sixth.
Fulford added a homer in the ninth and Tovar had another RBI double in the eighth and scored on Toronto second baseman Ernie Clement’s throwing error in the fourth.
TJ Rumfield had a two-run single and Hunter Goodman an RBI double in the eighth. Jake McCarthy drove in a run in the third.
Tomoyuki Sugano struck out four, allowing a run on two hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. Jaden Hill and Chase Dollander (1-0) came on in relief.
George Springer’s solo homer in the third inning briefly tied the game 1-1 for Toronto (3-1). Andres Gimenez added a home run and Davis Schneider a two-run blast in the eighth with the game already out of reach. Kazuma Okamoto hit his second homer of the season in the ninth.
Cody Ponce of the Toronto Blue Jays is carted off the field with an injury in a break in play against the Colorado Rockies on Monday.Mark Blinch/Getty Images
Cody Ponce struck out three, allowing one run on a walk and a hit in 2 1/3 innings, getting carted off the field when he twisted his knee fielding a ground ball.
Relievers Louis Varland, Spencer Miles, Brendon Little and Tyler Rogers as well as backup catcher Tyler Heineman followed Ponce to the mound. Varland (0-1) took the loss, giving up a run in his 1 1/3 innings.
TAKEAWAYS
Rockies: Colorado’s offence made the most of Toronto’s unscheduled bullpen game. The Rockies had seven runs in their first three games of the season, doubling that in Monday’s game.
Blue Jays: After striking out 50 Athletics in the first series of the season, Toronto’s pitching fell flat, allowing 17 hits but managing to get 10 strikeouts. Manager John Schneider put Heineman on the mound in the eighth to save his bullpen’s arms.
KEY MOMENT
Ponce tumbled off the mound early in McCarthy’s at bat, earning a balk that advanced Kyle Karros to third. Ponce’s right knee then buckled as he chased down McCarthy’s ground ball three pitches later, allowing Karros to score as the Blue Jays starter writhed in pain on the field.
KEY STAT
The 1992 Blue Jays are the only team in franchise history to start the season with four consecutive wins.
UP NEXT
Max Scherzer makes his first start of the season for Toronto on Tuesday. Ryan Feltner will take the mound for Colorado.