DENVER — Brenton Doyle broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double in the Colorado Rockies' 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
Doyle finished with three hits, the tiebreaking double coming off reliever John Schreiber (3-3). Michael Toglia had a solo home run for Colorado that weathered a replay review.
''I knew the guy had a good sinker and sweeper, so I wanted to get something up in the zone,'' Doyle said. ''I took the first ball and was going to be pretty aggressive with the next pitch, just wanted it up in the zone, and I got it.''
The winning double was Doyle's seventh extra-base hit in his last four games, the most by a Colorado player in a four-game span since Charlie Blackmon also had seven from June 13-16, 2019. Doyle's batting average stands at .274, 71 points higher than his average at the end of last year, his first full season in the majors.
''When you're producing, putting good swings on the baseball and finding barrels, you know this game can be a lot more fun and confidence can also raise with that. I'm in a good spot," said Doyle, who worked hard in the offseason fine-tuning his swing.
Salvador Perez had an RBI single and Freddy Fermin added three hits, including a single off Jalen Beeks leading off the ninth inning. Nick Loftin followed with a single before Beeks retired the next three batters for his eighth save. Victor Vodnik (2-1) worked a scoreless inning in relief for the victory.
The Royals went up 1-0 in the first inning when Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and scored an out later on a single by Perez.
Toglia connected on a 2-2 offering from Cole Ragans in the third inning, sending it the opposite way and just barely over the fence in left. Left fielder Dairon Blanco made a leaping attempt at the wall, his glove appearing to make glancing contact with the cupped hands of a fan who also tried to catch the ball. The ball dropped into the first row of the bleachers. The replay review upheld the home run call, ruling there was no conclusive evidence the spectator had interfered with Blanco in the field of play.