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DENVER — The most merciful part of the baseball calendar for Colorado sports fans this time of year is that none of them appeared to notice the return from the road of the worst team in the National League with all their attention diverted to the NFL draft saga of Shadeur Sanders’ tumble into the draft’s third day.
Only the Cincinnati Reds seemed to get more merciful treatment from the calendar, with the schedule taking them to Colorado for a three-game series in urgent search for early season wins near the end of a long road trip.
Not that 43-degree, drizzly Coors Field made anything easy for the Reds, who outlasted the elements and the Rockies in an 8-7 victory that included all the typical, pitcher-demoralizing hijinks the stadium has become famous for — from the balls that carried over the fence to the extra-base hits on balls outfielders cut off in those enormous, grassy spaces, to the four- and five-inning starts and parade of relievers.
The Reds led 1-0, 3-1, 6-4 and 8-6 at various points in a game in which the Rockies came back to tie three times.
But stinging from a series loss against the Marlins in Miami, the Reds improved to 4-3 during a nine-game trip that finishes Sunday and evened their season record at 13-13.
Andrew Abbott, who had a 1.64 ERA through his first two starts this season, made it through only four innings in his third one Friday, despite a 1-2-3 first and overall battling the elements and ballpark than pitching poorly – a long, three-run third all but assuring a limited night of work.
Noelvi Marte continued his hot hitting on the trip with a three-hit game, driving in the Reds' first two runs of the game. Santiago Espinal and Blake Dunn also reached base three times, and Spencer Steer homered for the Reds in a game in which the teams combined for 23 hits, 11 walks and a hit batter.
Emilio Pagán turned in one of only three 1-2-3 innings for the Reds to finish the game and earn his sixth save in seven chances.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds beat Rockies at Coors Field despite elements
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