As if to put an exclamation point on the 4-game road trip, the Rockies offense exploded for 16 hits, including huge home runs from Dale Bratz and Chris Cook, to earn a 13-5 victory and a split with the Tigers before heading home with a 2-2 record on the weekend. The Rockies now sit at 7-5 overall and are tied with the Red Deer Riggers for 1st in the South Division.
Rockies catcher/infielder Dale Bratz has been playing gold-glove defense at the keystone and filling in admirably behind the plate whenever called upon up to this point in 2023, but his performance at the plate had been the last remaining area that he felt was not meeting expectations. He smashed those expectations on Sunday afternoon with an enormous 5-hit day that included 5 RBI and a moonshot in the top of the 1st inning to hand the Rockies a 4-1 lead that they would never relinquish. The big day at the dish propelled Bratz to a .333/.400/.472 slash line and put him squarely in the conversation of becoming the Rockies first ever team MVP.
Not to be outdone, Chris Cook hit a solo shot of his own to lead off the 5th inning and extend the Rockies lead to 8-2, and continues to lift himself out of an ice cold stretch he suffered to start the season with another multi-hit performance.
Curtis Smith (3-1) toed the rubber for the Rockies and secured his third win of the season on the back of the Rockies bats by giving up two runs through five innings while striking out five. Rockies youngsters Brock Lenhardt and Tyson Kilbreath came in for an inning each of relief work and kept the Tigers offense at bay to secure the 13-5 victory.
The Rockies will be back in action this Thursday at home against the Red Deer Riggers before a short layoff, with the winner of Thursdays matchup taking sole possession of first place in the Sunburst’s South Division. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30pm.
