Cuddyer’s hustle pays off for Rockies

Associated Press

DENVER

Michael Cuddyer was trying to give his team a chance when he tagged up from first on a fly to center.

His hustle put him in scoring position and opened the floodgates for the Colorado Rockies.

Dexter Fowler had two hits and two RBIs and the Rockies rode Cuddyer’s savvy baserunning to a big sixth inning and a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

“He got that inning going,” manager Walt Weiss said. “Nothing Cuddy does surprises me. Always thinking, always looking for an edge.”

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 48 minutes because of a weather cell that slowly moved into the area before the first pitch. Heavy rain and lightning hit Coors Field.

In the seventh inning, leadoff man Starling Marte left the game with a left hand injury and manager Clint Hurdle was ejected.

“X-rays were taken and it’s a contusion,” Hurdle said of Marte.

Things had started to take a turn for the worse for the Pirates in the previous inning.

Pittsburgh was leading 3-1 and A.J. Burnett, who beat the Rockies with a complete game last Sunday in Pittsburgh, was cruising when the Rockies put together a two-out rally.

Cuddyer, who led off with a single, sparked it when he just beat the throw from center on Wilin Rosario’s fly ball.

“At that point it’s 3-1, get into scoring position and get a big hit,” Cuddyer said. “Obviously I didn’t know it was going to lead to a five-run inning.”

The veteran move jump-started the Rockies. Nolan Arenado followed with a double to score Cuddyer, Jonathan Herrera walked and pinch-hitter Charlie Blackmon doubled to tie the game.