Gordon backed by good defense, bats in complete win for Rox

HOUSTON -- Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon nibbled the edges the first two innings against the Astros on Tuesday night, and he escaped both innings, leaving men stranded. He made an adjustment after the second inning and decided to start attacking. The adjustment paid off.

Gordon pitched well for six innings, and the Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak by breaking out of their offensive slump with a 6-1 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.

“Tanner, I thought he did a real nice job after the first two innings,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Maybe nibbling a little bit, throwing a lot of pitches. I think 43 through the first two innings. Making an adjustment midgame in a hostile environment, getting back on track and being able to get us through six. He attacked the zone after that. Good stuff from him. All pitches working.”

Gordon won his third straight start, surrendering one run on six hits with five strikeouts.

“When he commands the baseball, he’s a really, really good pitcher, and that’s what he’s been doing,” Schaeffer said. “And attacking hitters. Staying out of the middle and attacking on the edges with all of his pitches. That’s when he’s good, and he was good tonight.”

He has allowed three runs or fewer in three consecutive starts.

“It comes down to my mindset, where my head’s at,” Gordon said. “Just trying to keep it really simple out there. Just trying to go out there and execute pitches and be on attack mode from pitch one through the very end.”

The right-hander did not get many swings and misses -- finishing with five on 45 swings -- but he was helped out by his defense.

After Gordon walked the bases loaded in the second, Brenton Doyle kept it a one-run deficit by making a running grab on a hard-hit fly ball by Jose Altuve.

Jordan Beck threw Mauricio Dubón out at second trying to stretch a single into a double in the fourth, and Beck made a sliding grab on a line drive by Christian Walker to end the fifth and strand two runners.

“The first few innings I was kind of nibbling, trying to be a little bit too perfect,” Gordon said. “Against a team like the Astros, you can’t do that, so I kind of went back on attack mode and trusted the guys behind me. Beck made some really good plays out in left. Spider-Man [Doyle] out in center field made some really good plays, too, so the defense was really good.”

The Rockies scored as many runs Tuesday as they had their previous four games combined.

Colorado took advantage of two Houston errors in the third en route to a four-run frame.

Tyler Freeman hit an RBI groundout and Mickey Moniak had an RBI single before Hunter Goodman capped the inning with a two-run homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field.

“That’s an opportunity,” Goodman said. “When you’re playing good teams, you don’t get those opportunities all the time. It’s good that we took advantage of it. We’re starting to play the right brand of baseball. We’re starting to play the way we want to play.”

Moniak hit a two-run double in the fifth to increase the Rockies’ lead to five runs.

“I think the name of the game is to get your job done,” Moniak said. “My job there is to put the ball in play and get the run in. When you’ve got 26 guys on the team doing their job, usually good things happen. I think that’s kind of what we’re trying to preach here moving forward these next 30 or so games trying to finish the year strong, trying to make sure everyone is doing their job.”

The Rockies were 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base. Moniak, who leads Colorado with a .333 batting average (24-for-72) with runners in scoring position, pointed to the left on base stat in particular for the club’s ability to get the win Tuesday.

“We were getting the big hits when we needed to,” he said. “When you’ve got guys in scoring position, on base, the good teams cash in. We were able to do that tonight.”