David Dahl went 3-for-4 and Trevor Story homered as the visiting Colorado Rockies opened their season with a 6-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday afternoon.
Left-hander Kyle Freeland, who went 17-7 last season and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young race, earned the win in his first Opening Day start. He allowed just two hits, one walk and one run in seven innings, striking out five.
Story's homer was no surprise -- he hit 88 long balls from 2016 to 2018. That is the major league record for homers by a shortstop in his first three seasons.
Dahl singled twice and doubled once while scoring two runs and getting an RBI. His first single came in the second inning, and it bounced off pitcher Jose Urena's left leg.
Urena (0-1) stayed in the game but allowed nine hits and six runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings.
Colorado had the first big threat of the game in the third as Chris Iannetta singled and advanced on Freeland's walk. But Charlie Blackmon flied out to right, where Garrett Cooper caught the ball and fired a one-hopper, nailing Iannetta at third.
The Rockies opened the scoring with four runs on four hits and two errors in the fourth. Nolan Arenado doubled down the third-base line, advanced on Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas' miscue -- a high throw -- and scored on Dahl's line-drive single pulled to right.
Colorado capped the rally with Ryan McMahon's RBI single -- with another run tacked on when center fielder Lewis Brinson couldn't cleanly field the bouncing hit -- and Iannetta's RBI double.
The Rockies extended their lead to 6-0 in the fifth as Story homered, Dahl doubled, and Ian Desmond followed with an RBI two-bagger.
Marlins pinch hitter JT Riddle, a left-handed batter, led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run. Lefty hitters batted just .185 with two homers off Freeland last season.
Miami also got a pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth as Neil Walker made his Marlins' debut. Walker swung at a first-pitch fastball from reliever Scott Oberg, and the Marlins closed the scoring with Jorge Alfaro's solo homer with two outs in the ninth.
--Field Level Media