Three hours before the return of Charlie Blackmon, Rockies manager Bud Black attempted to manifest osmosis. Now that Colorado’s young hitters could finally observe the lineup’s bearded bastion of contact-hitting in action, Black reasoned, they could absorb and replicate Blackmon’s experienced approach at the plate.
It took eight often-aggravating innings, but his intuition was right.
The Rockies rallied for a 6-4 series-opening win over the Diamondbacks on Monday night to welcome back Blackmon, who returned to the top of the lineup after missing 52 games with a fractured hand. He went 2 for 3 with a walk and set the table in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff infield single.