Ian Desmond Leon Draisaitl Jersey , Trevor Story and Colorado starter Chad Bettis each had quite a return to Texas in a record comeback for the Rockies.

Playing his first game in Texas since being an All-Star center fielder in his only season for the Rangers, Desmond homered twice. Story had a pair of RBI hits in his first big league game at home and fellow Texas native Bettis overcame a tough first inning as the Rockies won 9-5 in the opener of an interleague series Friday night.

”Lot of emotion,” said Desmond, who went to Colorado in free agency after playing for Texas in 2016. ”Good time to have a good game.”

Desmond, a converted shortstop and now the primary first baseman for the Rockies, homered leading off the second inning. That ignited a six-run outburst after Bettis (5-1) allowed two-run homers to Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo in a five-run Texas first.

The Rangers didn’t score again against Bettis, who made it 5 2/3 innings – or any of the three Rockies relievers.

”For them to get six there right after I had given up five was huge,” said Bettis, who is from Lubbock and pitched at Texas Tech. ”I needed to go out there and show these guys thanks for picking me up.”

The last time the Rockies won after trailing by five runs after the first inning was against Atlanta on Sept. 24, 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They had never had such a comeback on the road until Friday night.

”Yeah, it was (surprising). I felt like our guys there in the first, the approach was solid,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. ”They were getting some pitches to hit. In the second, we grounded into a double play when we had a run-scoring opportunity. … I felt like that once Colorado got the six runs, an experienced pitcher settled in and started making some pitches.”

Texas has a seven-game losing streak, its longest of the season. The Rockies had lost five of their previous six.

Story grew up about 15 minutes away from the Rangers’ ballpark before he was the 45th overall pick in the 2011 draft by the Rockies out of Irving High School. The shortstop, who still lives in the area in the offseason, leads the National League with 52 RBIs.

After Desmond’s homer in the second off Yohander Mendez (0-1), the lefty making his first big league start, D.J. LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon had consecutive RBI singles before Nolan Arenado snapped a career-worst 0-for-19 slump with a two-run double. Story then had the tiebreaking RBI single.

”Yeah, it was special. I grew up loving the Rangers, so coming here I’ve always dreamed of playing in this stadium,” Story said. ”It was kind of surreal at first and I was a little nervous at first. Those kind of went away pretty quick.”

ROCKIES GOING DEEP

Arenado led off the ninth with his 13th homer. … Desmond’s second homer, in the fifth, was his 14th of the season for his fifth career multihomer game. … Desmond was only 10th Rockies player with a multihomer game in an interleague road game, the first since Blackmon at Yankee Stadium in 2016. … Desmond is the first Rockies player to homer twice at Texas.

BIG INNING

The six-run second was the highest scoring inning this season for Colorado, and the most in an American League ballpark since eight in the 10th inning of a game at Detroit on June 15, 2012.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: RHP Carlos Estevez, who has been out all season with a left oblique and elbow strain, threw a bullpen session. Manager Bud Black said he threw all of his pitched at a high-level intensity and is ”really gaining momentum.”

Rangers: Carlos Perez, starting in place of Chirinos, rolled his right ankle extending to catch a ball in the top of the second inning. Jose Trevino, recalled from Double-A Frisco, made his big league when he batted for Perez in the bottom of the inning and then stayed in the game as the catcher. … RF Nomar Mazara was a late scratch from the lineup because of left wrist soreness. … Right-handed relievers Matt Bush (right elbow strain) and Chris Martin (right calf strain) were put on the 10-day DL.

UP NEXT

Lefty Kyle Freeland (6-6), the Denver native who was 4-0 in interleague starts as a rookie last season Youth Chicago Bears Jerseys , takes the mound for the Rockies in the first of consecutive day games to close out the interleague series. Rangers left-hander Mike Minor (4-4) is working on extended six days of rest after Texas had two off days during the week.

—


PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks were not expecting perfection from closer Brad Boxberger, even though members of their front office had seen exactly that several years before.

Boxberger, back in the closer’s role, converted his 21st save opportunity in Arizona’s 3-1 victory over San Diego in the second game of a four-game series Friday. He is fifth in the league in saves, and his 84 percent conversion rate ranks near the top among his peers.

He came to Arizona after an eye-popping eyeball test. Boxberger is having the sort of success that general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo might have envisioned when they acquired him in a deal with Tampa Bay over the winter.

It is the sort of work they saw first-hand while in Boston during Boxberger’s 41-save season with the Rays in 2015. Boxberger faced the Red Sox 11 times that season and was just about flawless. He did not allow a run while going 2-0 with six saves. He gave up five hits, all singles, and three walks while striking out 17 in 10 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters’ slash line: .143/.143/.211.

The D-backs felt they acquired him at just the right time this offseason, after he spent the previous two seasons working through adductor, oblique and flexor muscle injuries.

“We felt he was on the up elevator when it came to health,” said Lovullo, the bench coach in Boston from 2013-16. “We knew a healthy Brad Boxberger is going to be a very, very good closer for us.”

Like Fernando Rodney last season, Boxberger has a fastball/changeup repertoire, a combination that has enabled him to log 41 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings. Unlike Rodney, there is less drama.

“I’ve seen it very good,” Lovullo said, “and I’ve seen it in live action on major league fields and I’ve heard major league hitters come back to the dugout talking about it. I know it creates a lot of discomfort for hitters.”

Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray is scheduled to oppose San Diego right-hander Tyson Ross in the third game of the series Saturday night.

“There is nothing like those last three outs in the game,” Boxberger said “There is a lot of stuff that can happen. It is just a matter of being able to control that situation. Whatever happens, to be able to control it and shut the game down.

“The more time you do something, the more comfortable you get at it. Pitching in any back-end situation is going to have its high leverage and stress situations. It is just a matter of keeping a level head and manage your ability to get the hitter out.”

San Diego won the first game of the series with Wil Myers getting two hits and driving in two runs, but Myers was given a start off Friday after playing 13 consecutive games following his return from the disabled list June 21. He missed 47 games with a strained muscle in his side.

Myers is hitting .261 with a homer and eight RBIs since his return, and he has four two-hit games in his last eight. He homered last Saturday, tripled Thursday and also has three walks in the last four games.

“He’s getting more and more comfortable,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “The 3-2 walks he had (in Oakland on Wednesday) were really good signs. They were battle at-bats, and the confidence to take close borderline pitches, that they are balls. I think when guys see the ball well, they eventually start hitting the ball well. He’s had good swings periodically. He hasn’t been in his groove or his rhythm. He’s been solid. We are waiting for him to be spectacular.”

Ray, 3-1 with a 4.89 ERA, will make his third start since returning from an oblique injury. He gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings to St. Louis in his only loss Monday. The Cardinals scored four runs in the first inning.

“They were swinging early,” said Ray, who hinted that he might have been tipping his pitches. “I don’t know if they had something that they saw. I just have to do a better job.”

Ray is 4-4 with a 3.98 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres.

Ross (5-6, 3.78 ERA) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his start April 20 at Chase Field, a game the Padres won but in which he did not receive a decision. He is 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 14 career appearances, including 13 starts, against Arizona.