Tyler Chatwood was quite simply fantastic on Saturday afternoon. In fact, he was nearly perfect. The quiet man they ironically call “Chatty” gave up just a pair of singles, issuing one ninth-inning walk while striking out four. He stole away headlines from an offense that looks to be back on the right track by throwing the first complete game shutout since Jon Gray struck out 16 Padres on September 17, 2016.
Chatwood was famously stupendous on the road a year ago (and less so at home) posting an absurd 1.69 ERA away from Coors Field while holding opponents to a .189 batting average. And it was because of outings just like this.
Chris Marrero broke up the perfect game and the no-hitter with two outs in the sixth on full-count opposite field single but it was still a special day for Chatwood and the Rockies.
After the first truly embarrassing loss of 2017 — an 8-2 beatdown at the hands of the San Francisco Giants on Friday night — the Colorado Rockies slugged back, landing a body blow on their NL West division foe, and showing signs that they may be breaking out of their team-wide offensive slump.
Nolan Arenado hit yet another go-ahead RBI on a solo home run to break the scoreless tie in the top of the third. He continues his absurd rate of driving in runs when games are close. Though, this game did not remain so.
Lest we forget his full value, the Rockies third baseman also did this on Saturday afternoon:
Casual Nolan. pic.twitter.com/2htmFhR2QK
— MLB (@MLB) April 15, 2017
In the fourth, the Rockies finally got a sustained rally from their offense. Team MVP Mark Reynolds started things off with a single to left and Trevor Story gave Rockies fans a good omen when he nearly drove one out of the park, falling just short also in left. Stephen Cardullo followed with his first base hit of the season, a single up the middle and catcher Dustin Garneau drove in the second run of the game with a ground ball double down the third base line.
After a long at-bat from Chatwood, Charlie Blackmon delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to right to make it 4-0. The inning finally ended on a scary play for the Giants when DJ LeMahieu drove yet another deep line drive to left that Jarrett Parker made a spectacular catch on, crashing into the wall and injuring himself in the process.
The Rockies got another run on a broken-bat single off the bat of Cardullo scoring Reynolds who had, of course, singled and moved to second on when Story drew a walk.
Reynolds went 2-for-4 with a couple of runs scored and is hitting .318 this season.
After a two-out single from LeMahieu followed by an Arenado double that nearly left the ballpark, Moore had to be removed at 105 pitches, forcing Bruce Bochy to go to his bullpen before he wanted. But it did put a stop to the scoring.
Arenado went 3-for-4, coming a triple shy of the cycle, which is only newsworthy because AT&T park is where anyone with a dream can hit a triple.
Chatwood finished off the complete game shutout, working around his first walk of the game in the ninth inning, getting Hunter Pence to ground out to end the game after 105 immaculate pitches.
The Giants will aim for a series split tomorrow afternoon with a fourth game by the bay.
