Rox start first homestand with a thrilling final few innings to give the team and fans some much needed hope

By F. Graham

The Colorado Rockies home opener has arrived. As a devoted Rockies fan, this is my favorite day of the year because Major League Baseball is back at Coors Field. Opening day is a fresh, fun, exciting start for every team, and everyone can find some new hope, even Rockies fans. The Rockies’ home opener was against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rockies will also play Tampa Bay Saturday and Sunday of their home opening weekend. It was a packed house at Coors today, and big crowds are expected to continue through the weekend.

The Rockies dugout is decorated for hall-of-famer Todd Helton.

Rays talent can’t match Rockies

The Rays were established in 1998, the same year as the Diamondbacks, which is the team the Rockies played against on MLB opening day this year (March 28). The Rays have been a competitive team for the last few years, and made the World Series in the shortened 2020 season, but lost to the Dodgers.

There is some fun offensive talent on the Rays, including Randy Arozarena, the Rays’ left fielder, who already has two home runs in the first eight games of the season. Another exciting hitter is Yandy Diaz, who is the Rays first baseman and their usual lead-off hitter, showcased some good power last year, and already has seven RBI in the first eight games of the season. A final fun offensive player that the Rockies will play against this weekend is the Rays center fielder Jose Siri, who leads the team so far with four stolen bases over eight games. The pitching for the Rays is pretty good, but right now they have not totally figured out their starting five, so it is not quite decided who the Rockies will face Saturday. Aaron Civale leads the team in ERA at 1.50, and in strikeouts with 14 over his two starts. The Rockies are probably not going to see Civale in this series, since he started on Wednesday.

A big neighborhood party

Opening Day was an absolute blast. The whole neighborhood was packed and buzzing, with pop-up parties in several parking lots. About 30 minutes before first pitch, the 2024 Colorado Rockies were welcomed back to Coors Field, followed by the national anthem with fireworks and a flyover. Then Brenton Doyle was given his Gold Glove award in a short ceremony, which was really fun. After that, it was time to play ball at Coors Field for the first time in six months. The Rockies scored in the bottom of the first, which tied up the game after the Rays scored in the top of that inning. Tampa Bay regained the lead in the second, which made it 2-1. It remained that way until the bottom of the sixth when the Rockies scored three, including Ezequiel Tovar’s second homer of the season, which got the crowd going ballistic.

The Rockies scored another two in the bottom of the eighth on a Kris Bryant two-run homer. It seemed like it was over when the Rays came up to bat in the ninth, but the Rockies blew it, giving up five runs in the top of the ninth. That sent the ballgame to the bottom of the ninth with Tampa Bay leading 7-6. The Tampa closer walked the only three batters he faced. A new pitcher entered for the Rays when the Rockies had the bases loaded with the tying run at third, the winning run at second and nobody out. Bryant sadly struck out, but then Ryan McMahon stepped up. On the first pitch he saw, RyMac swung away and crushed a game-winning grand slam to the right field seats.

Though there were some nerves toward the end of the game, it was another very successful Coors Field opening day. There were fun new animations on the scoreboard, and the pregame festivities were awesome. And, most of all, baseball was finally back at Coors Field.

F. Graham is our teenage Rockies correspondent. When he grows up, he hopes to either be a baseball announcer or an architectural engineer who designs baseball stadiums.