The offensive woes for the Rockies continued in the Sunshine State as the starting lineup – which included the DH thanks to Interleague play – struck out 12 times and Chad Bettis gave up 6 earned runs during his 2019 debut.
Tampa Bay Rays utilized their much fabled (and controversial) Opener and then got a solid outing from Ryan Yarborough to take them deep enough into the game for their bullpen to completely shut down Colorado’s bats.
Chad Bettis kept a no-hitter into the fourth inning before the wheels started to come off in a hurry.
Ji-Man Choi opened things up with a single and Brandon Lowe smashed the first pitch he saw for a home run to give the Rays a 2-0 lead.
Bettis then walked Yandy Diaz and gave up a ground rule double to Kevin Kiermaier. He settled down after a mound visit and got a ground out that played a third run then two more weak outs to escape any further damage.
Charlie Blackmon got aboard with a hit-by-pitch, David Dahl followed with a line drive single to left field and Nolan Arenado backed that up by pulling a double just inside the third-base bag, scoring Blackmon and moving Dahl to third.
But Trevor Story popped up on the infield, working just underneath a breaking pitch and Ryan McMahon struck out, allowing the opportunity for more runs to slip away.
That lost opportunity really hurt for Colorado when the game got away from Bettis in the next half-inning.
Solid singles from Lowe and Diaz set the stage for a no-doubt home run to right 409-ft off the bat of Kiermaier to move the two run deficit to four in the bottom of the sixth .
DJ Johnson came back out for the seventh after finishing the sixth for Bettis, but he got the hook after loading the bases on a single and two walks. Kiermaier would strike again on a sac fly off Jake McGee to put up the Ray, 7-1.
McGee continued to look good, striking out three straight batters before the leaving the game with a cramp in a scene that looked eerily familiar to Jon Gray’s early exit yesterday. Shaw got the final out of the inning on an overturned play when Story applied a tag to Austin Meadows on an apparent double.
Rays closer Diego Castillo struck out McMahon, Ian Desmond and Chris Iannetta to put the Rockies losing streak at three after winning the first two games of the season.
