Charlie Blackmon hits Grand Slam, Rockies hammer Reds

Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies hits a seventh inning grand slam home run off of Dayan Diaz #50 of the Cincinnati Reds at Coors Field on May 31, 2016 in Denver, Colorado.

(May 31, 2016 - Source: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images North America)

CF Charlie Blackmon hits a grand slam in the seventh inning as the Colorado Rockies (24-27) hammer the Cincinnati Reds (17-35) 17-4 in game two of their four-game series.

The Rockies were off to a blistering start, scoring five runs in the opening inning. Charlie Blackmon led off with a home run and 3B Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer, driving in 2B DJ LeMahieu to give Colorado an early 3-0 lead.

Cincinnati’s SP Jon Moscot threw just six pitches to this point.

With two outs, 1B Daniel Descalso hit an RBI-single to drive LF Gerardo Parra home and C Tony Wolters batted Daniel Descalso in with a double.

It was the most runs the Colorado Rockies scored in the first inning this season.

DJ LeMahieu and RF Carlos Gonzalez hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning to put the Rockies 7-0 up.

It was DJ LeMahieu’s third long ball of the season and Carlos Gonzalez’ fourth straight game with a home run.

The Reds scored their first run in the top of the third inning. They loaded the bases with a leadoff single from C Tucker Barnhart, Jon Moscot was hit in the ear by a pitch and SS Zack Cozart walked. CF Billy Hamilton drew another walk and Tucker Barnhart came home for a run.

Jon Moscot (0-3), who was activated from the 15-day DL to start in this game, did not return to pitch in the third inning. He surrendered 8 hits, 7 earned runs and 4 home runs while striking out 1. His ERA and WHIP rose to 7.13 and 1.70, respectively.

Colorado restored their seven-run lead with a leadoff homer by Gerardo Parra in the bottom of the frame. It was Parra’s fourth home run of the year.

In the top of the sixth inning, Cincinnati cut the deficit to five runs with solo homers from 1B Joey Votto and RF Jay Bruce. It was Bruce’s 10th home run of the season.

The Rockies extended their lead to eight runs in the bottom of the frame. With one out, DJ LeMahieu hit an RBI-double to drive in PH Christhian Adames and Nolan Arenado followed with a home run to put the Rockies 11-3 up.

The seventh inning was the big moment for Charlie Blackmon. He hit a grand slam after the Rockies loaded the bases with a leadoff walk from Daniel Descalso, a double from Tony Wolters and another walk by PH Ryan Raburn.

It was Colorado’s seventh home run of the game, tying their franchise record.

The Rockies added two more runs in this inning. Carlos Gonzalez hit an RBI-double to drive in DJ LeMahieu and Gerardo Parra’s sacrifice flyball brought Nolan Arenado home for a 17-3 lead.

17 runs ties Colorado’s season-high for most runs in a game.

The Reds scored the last run of the game when Jay Bruce tripled and batted in Billy Hamilton for the final score of 17-4.

Colorado’s SP Jon Gray (3-2) pitched 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 walks and 3 earned runs while striking 4. He now has a 5.76 ERA with 1.32 WHIP on the season.

Charlie Blackmon, who recorded the first grand slam of his career, went 2-for-6 with 2 runs, 2 HR and 5RBI. He is batting .301 this season and has 24 runs, 6 HR and 25 RBI.