Peak Coors Field: Rockies erase 9-run deficit in absurd 17-16 win over Pirates

Baseball is simply a different sport at Coors Field. That worked out to the Colorado Rockies’ benefit on Friday, in one of the wildest games of the year.

The Rockies trailed 9-0 after the top of the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They trailed 16-12 after the top of the ninth. And yet, they won 17-16.

Center fielder Brenton Doyle supplied the final blow, clubbing a walk-off, two-run homer off Pirates reliever Dennis Santana.

In total, the game saw 33 runs, 40 hits, 13 extra-base hits, 14 walks and 56 total bases. Per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it was only the third time of MLB’s divisional era (since 1969) that a team won after trailing by at least nine in the first inning, joining the 1989 Philadelphia Phillies and 2006 Cleveland Indians.

Here’s what that looks like, graph form:

After the Pirates’ nine-run first inning, the Rockies slowly chipped their way back, though the Pirates remained in seemingly safe territory with back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth. The Rockies were down by seven entering the eighth inning, with homers from Yanquiel Fernández and Hunter Goodman getting them within striking range for Doyle’s heroics.

It had been a brutal season for Rockies this year and for Doyle in particular. While a gifted fielder, he entered the game hitting a woeful .216/.263/.328 despite the Coors bump and would have likely been demoted from the regular lineup had he played for nearly other team. By wRC+, which weighs offensive contributions and adjusts for park, he was literally the worst offensive qualified player in the majors entering Friday.

Now he and the Rockies have a very real highlight. The win improves their record to 29-80, which is still MLB’s worst mark, but they are no longer on pace to break the losses record set by last year’s Chicago White Sox.