Brenton Doyle's walk-off homer lifts Rockies to wild 17-16 win over Pirates on Grateful Dead Night at Coors Field

Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post on Aug 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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DENVER — You could almost hear the Deadheads muttering, “Man, what a long, strange trip it’s been.”

And that was only in the fifth inning when the Rockies scored four runs to cut the Pirates’ lead to 15-10.

By the end of the 3-hour, 37-minute score-a-thon on Grateful Dead Night at Coors Field, the Rockies walked it off with a 17-16 win on Brenton Doyle’s dramatic two-run homer off Dennis Santana.

Trailing from the beginning, the Rockies never stopped truckin’ at the plate.

They rapped out 22 hits, including a memorable night for shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who celebrated his 24th birthday by blasting out a 4-for-6 performance that included an MLB record-tying four doubles and two RBIs.

Rookie first baseman Warming Bernable had a 4-for-6 night, sweetened by a three-run homer in the third inning and an RBI double in the critical ninth. In six games since making his major league debut last Saturday, Bernable has hit .435 (11 for 24) with three home runs and seven RBIs. And rookie Yanquiel Fernandez mashed a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth, the first homer of his career.

Fernandez’s blast to right cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 16-12, and Hunter Goodman’s one-out solo homer in the ninth made it 16-13.

The LoDo madness began in the first inning when the Pirates sent 14 men to the plate and scored 10 runs on nine hits. Included in the onslaught was a 451-foot grand slam by center fielder Oneil Cruz off hapless Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela, who was gone after just two-thirds of an inning.

Senzatela, charged with seven runs on eight hits and two walks, has been a disaster waiting to happen in the first inning this season. He has an 11.76 ERA, 2.42 WHIP and .442 batting average against.

Rookie lefty Carson Palmquist, called up from Triple-A before Friday’s game, didn’t fare much better. He served up a three-run homer to Andrew McCutchen before finally ending the Pirates’ first inning. Palmquist walked five in 2 1/3 innings.

The Pirates pounded right-hander Angel Chivilli four runs on five hits over two innings. It was left to veteran right-hander Jimmy Herget to finally put a stop to the madness.

Right-hander Darnell Dugan made his major league debut in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. He picked up the victory.

In addition to giving up 18 hits to Pittsburgh, Colorado pitchers issued nine walks, and Herget hit Joey Bart with the bases full in the sixth to force in a run.