Rockies fall after inching to within one out of victory vs. San Diego in home opener

Apparently Coors Field is still Coors Field, the craziness able to go on without the crowd.

The Rockies fell 8-7 to San Diego on Friday night in a game that had a little bit of everything for Colorado except executing the final out.

They held a 5-4 lead with two outs in the ninth when Fernando Tatis Jr. homered off Colorado closer Wade Davis.

Three batters later Tommy Pham launched a three-run home run to put Colorado, so close to victory moments earlier, in an 8-5 hole.

But in the ninth, the Rockies scored twice and ended the game in typical Coors Field fashion with the bases loaded.

PHOTOS | Colorado Rockies' 2020 home opener

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Long before that, this game had plenty to excite the crowd watching from the comfort of their homes, unable to attend in person because of COVID-19. Charlie Blackmon homered. Matt Kemp hit a two-run pinch-hit double and, most notably, Trevor Story atoned for an error that helped put the Rockies in a hole by hitting a redeeming home run to put the team in front 5-4.

It looked like Story’s opposite field blast in the seventh would be the difference, allowing the shortstop – who also threw out a runner at first from the seated position – to be the hero on the day he received his Silver Slugger award.

Then, everything fell apart.

For the Rockies, this snaps a four-game losing streak and was the first loss since the opener. It also spoiled another solid starting pitching performance.

The ending also obscured another strong starting pitching performance for a team that has now seen six of them in as many games. Jon Gray’s final numbers didn’t look perfect – 5 2/3 innings, five baserunners, three runs, two strikeout – but he had faced just two over the minimum through five shutout innings. He ran into trouble in the sixth, but part of it was due to an opposite field hit from Manny Machado on a good pitch to score a run and then Story couldn’t handle a tough hop for an error on what would have been an inning-ending double play.