Vintage Verlander shows up at Coors, Tigers best Rockies 6-2

At the start of play on August 1, the Colorado Rockies held a five-and-a-half game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League Wild Card spot. After Wednesday afternoon’s 6-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers, they now stand three up on that spot. This means that if both teams play at the same pace in September, the Brewers won’t overtake the Rockies for the final NL postseason spot, but it won’t be comfortable.

Justin Verlander looked like one of the best pitchers over the last decade, which he is, and not the veteran who has struggled with consistency in 2017, which he also is. The Cy Young winner dominated Rockies hitting to the tune of allowing just one run on three hits over six innings. He recorded nine strike outs and walked just one batter.

Charlie Blackmon scored the Rockies first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run, his 32nd of the year. Blackmon now sits at 84 RBI which ties him for second all-time among National League leadoff hitters with Taylor Douhit (1930) and four behind Craig Biggio (1998). He also scored his 120th run, 17 more than any other player in baseball.

Colorado scored a token run in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out walk from Carlos Gonzalez that was followed by a Trevor Story double off the top of the wall in right field. The middle of the order, Nolan Arenado, Gerardo Parra, and Ian Desmond went a combined 0-for-12.

The Tigers first run came on something that has haunted the Rockies all season; base hits given up to the opposing pitcher. With two outs and runners at first and second, Verlander recorded just the fourth hit of his career and tallied the very first RBI of his career on a single to center.

Their second run came on a solo home run off the bat of Nicholas Castellanos. Bettis threw a decent curve ball at the bottom of the zone but Castellanos just went down and got it with a somewhat awkward looking swing that more than got the job done.

The huge blow came in the fifth on a three-run shot from James McCann, again with two outs, after Bettis had gotten ahead 0-2 in the count. Dixon Machado and Castellanos, who had singled, both scored on McCann’s 13th homer of the season to give Detroit a 5-0 lead.

Colorado fell to 71-61 and have their smallest lead on a postseason spot they’ve had all year (after the first week) at three games.

After a day off on Thursday, the Rockies welcome in the NL Wild Card-leading Arizona Diamondbacks in what could be the biggest series of the season. Kyle Freeland will face Taijuan Walker in the first game on Friday night.