Baseball fans live for the drama. The Colorado Rockies' organization provided it on Friday.
While the big league club dropped an 11-inning heartbreaker to the A's, 6-3, at Coors Field, three of the team's four Minor League affiliates pulled off walk-off wins -- and the fourth fell just short.
It was Opening Day for the Single-A, High-A and Double-A levels, and the Rockies' Triple-A club -- the Albuquerque Isotopes -- were looking for a W against the Salt Lake Bees (LAA) in their first Friday home game of the year. The 'Topes came into the bottom of the ninth down by two, but Rockies No. 17 prospect Sterlin Thompson singled and scored on a base hit by Warming Bernabel, and Albuquerque catcher Braxton Fulton followed with a two-run jack to win it, 5-4.
Even before the Eastern League's Opening Day, the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats had already provoked cheers and jeers, breaking the internet with a goat milk-soaked hot dog hoax before unveiling a real concessions menu that includes a donut meatloaf sandwich. They sent the fans home happy Friday when Kyle Karros -- Colorado's No. 21 prospect, who started the scoring against the Somerset Patriots (NYY) with a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning -- broke a 4-4 tie with another dinger with one out in the ninth.
Out in the California League, the Single-A Fresno Grizzlies were in lockstep with the parent club, going 11 innings against an Athletics affiliate, until they came through with a happier ending. After three scoreless frames on both sides, Grizzlies outfielder Felix Tena broke the deadlock by plating Blake Wright with a sacrifice fly, giving Fresno a 4-3 win over the Stockton Ports.
That leaves one of Colorado's full-season affiliates unspoken for. The High-A Spokane Indians were hosting the Everett AquaSox (SEA) on Opening Day and went into the bottom of the ninth down by a margin of 4-2. Aidan Longwell, the Rockies' 17th-round pick in the 2023 Draft, put Spokane within one with a sacrifice fly. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, but that was where the rally ended. The team commented on an MiLB Instagram post about the organization's three walk-offs: "We, uh, didn't get the memo."
