Blach, 4 relievers lead Rockies over A’s

DENVER — Ty Blach tossed five strong innings, Ryan McMahon had two hits and drove in both runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 on Sunday to salvage the final game of the three-game series.

Matt Koch, Brent Suter and Daniel Bard each pitched an inning before Justin Lawrence capped the shutout with a clean ninth to earn his eighth save.

Ramón Laureano had two hits and Luis Medina (3-8) allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Athletics.

Oakland, which entered the weekend series averaging 3.22 runs, put up a total of 19 runs in its wins Friday and Saturday nights against traditional starters. The Athletics’ bats went silent against Blach, a reliever and designated opener.

Blach (1-0), making his second straight start, went a season-high five innings and threw just 11 balls in his 52 pitches. He allowed three hits and only one runner past first base.

McMahon provided the run support with an RBI single in the third inning and a two-out double in the fifth to bring home Ezequiel Tovar.

The Athletics’ best chance to score was against Suter in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Suter got Nick Allen looking with a 78 mph changeup to end the inning.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

Colorado continued its season-long 30th anniversary celebration by honoring four key figures in franchise history. Clint Hurdle, Pedro Astacio, Jorge De La Rosa and Carlos González were in attendance and recognized for their major contributions to the Rockies.

Hurdle managed the team to the 2007 World Series, Astacio holds team record for complete games with 14, De La Rosa has the most strikeouts in franchise history with 985, and González was a Gold Glove outfielder and NL batting champion. He also hit a walk-off homer to complete a cycle, which occurred on July 30, 2010.

González, Astacio and De La Rosa threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Have not announced a starter for Monday night’s game at the Los Angeles Dodgers.