Rockies pitching dominates in series clincher over the Phils

The Colorado Rockies came out on Sunday afternoon looking for a statement win after dropping a highly winnable contest in the third game of the series. And they pretty well handled the Philadelphia Phillies who came into the four-game set as one of the hottest teams in baseball.

They dominated the offseason darlings who sport essentially an All-Star lineup in the 4-1 victory at Coors Field, firmly putting the early-season troubles in the rear-view mirror.

Jon Gray was absolutely fantastic yet again, tossing six strong innings without allowing a run while surrendering just one base hit. He lowered his ERA over his first five games to 2.78.

He also finally broke his streak of allowing at least one home run in each of his last 16 games.

The Rockies threatened in the first with a leadoff walk for Charlie Blackmon, a sac bunt by David Dahl, and an infield single from Nolan Arenado but Trevor Story struck out and Ryan McMahon’s deep drive to right fell short of the wall, stranding both runners.

The top of the lineup got another chance in the bottom of the third on singles from Dahl and Arenado. This time Story came through by lining one through the left side, scoring Dahl from second to break the scoreless tie and give Colorado the 1-0 early lead.

The top of the fourth was a strange one for both sides, beginning with a sharp grounder that was mishandled by Garrett Hampson at second, allowing Cesar Hernandez to reach on the error to begin the frame. Gray bounced back to strike out Bryce Harper on a wicked, 91 MPH slider down and in and then got Rhys Hoskins to ground to short for what looked to be an inning-ending double play.

But Hampson again had trouble on the play, fumbling Story’s throw. Initially, Hernandez was ruled safe at second but, apparently, he didn’t realize it and wandered off the bag an into an out.

That ended up being big because Maikel Franco broke through for the Phillies first hit of the game in the next at-bat, doubling to right field but they decided to hold the runner at third and Gray was able to get Roman Quinn to fly out to escape any damage.

The Rockies starter made his own bit of trouble in the following inning by issuing a pair of one-out walks, including to his counterpart, a cardinal sin. But again he didn’t let the situation bother him, getting Andrew McCutchen to fly out and striking out Hernandez to keep the scoreboard clean.

His pitch count continued to rise with a tight zone and the third error for the Rockies coming in the sixth when Ryan McMahon dropped a pop-up in foul territory, but Gray finished his outing strong, getting Quinn to pop up on the infield.

In the bottom of that inning, the Rockies offense sprang to life to give themselves a bit of breathing room.

Story walked and swiped second (his fifth stolen base of the year) before McMahon walked and Desmond ripped a single through the right side (104.8 MPH off the bat) to plate the second run of the game. Tony Wolters followed with a line drive shot to center field. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple but recorded the two-RBI hit to give his team a 4-0 lead.

Carlos Estevez came on in the seventh and faced some traffic as well on a one-out walk and a two-out single for McCutchen but he struck out Hernandez on a nasty slider to strand them both.

It was Scott Oberg’s turn in the eighth and he walked Harper to lead things off. Hoskins nearly made it a two-run game with a drive to left but it died on the warning track and Maikel Franco rolled one over to third for an easy 5-4-3 double play

Wade Davis came on in the ninth and gave up the shutout on a two-out double for Andrew Knapp and a pinch-hit single for J.T. Realmuto. McCutchen followed that up with a single to left but Davis got Hernandez to hit a weak grounder back to the mound for the final out.

Colorado essentially came two hanging sliders away from sweeping this series.

Stats

Jon Gray: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K

Carlos Estevez: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Scott Oberg: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Wade Davis: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Tony Wolters: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB

Trevor Story: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Ian Desmond: 1-for-4m 1 Rm 1 RBI

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-3, 1 BB

Charlie Blackmon: 2-for-3, 3B

What’s Next

The Washington Nationals come to town on Monday for a three-game set. They send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound for his first start ever at Coors Field. The Rockies have not yet announced their starter but it is expected to be Tyler Anderson back off the IL. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.