Bettis' gem lifts Rockies to yet another series win on the road

The Colorado Rockies recorded only five hits and one of their two runs came on a fielder’s choice, the other from a rookie that has two base hits on the season. But Chad Bettis was sublime on a snowy Tuesday evening in Pittsburg, and the bullpen did its thing once again, securing a 2-0 Rockies win over the Pirates.

As they’ve been remarkably prone to do early in the season, the Rockies scored in the first inning. After DJ LeMahieu lined out, Gerardo Parra walked and managed to get all the way to third on a Charlie Blackmon check-swing single. When you’re hot, you’re hot.

Carlos Gonzalez pulled a groundball into the hole and though an out was made at second, there was no chance for the double play and Parra’s base running aggressiveness paid off as the Rockies took a 1-0 lead.

The pitching duel remained stagnant until the fourth when Ian Desmond drew a two-out walk which was followed up by a Trevor Story double down the left-field line. That left it to struggling rookie Ryan McMahon who collected his first hit of the season on this road trip but was still 1-for-11. He stayed simple and put together a good at-bat, lining a single the opposite way to score a two-out run.

Bettis allowed four singles through the first seven innings but gave up a lead-off double to Jordy Mercer in the eighth. He got his 10th groundball out of the game then made way for Bryan Shaw. He worked to Sean Rodriguez, falling behind but inducing a weak ground ball to third that McMahon made an excellent play on to cut the runner down at the plate.

Jake McGee came on for the final out of the inning, getting Gregory Polanco to pop out to McMahon at third.

Wade Davis recorded one strikeout in a 1-2-3 inning to collect his eighth save of the season and stamp down the win.

The Rockies are now 9-4 out on the road and 3-1 in series away from Coors Field. They also moved to 3-1 without Nolan Arenado who will serve the final game of his suspension in Wednesday’s finale.

This was Colorado’s first series win in Pittsburg in seven seasons.

Final Stats:

Chad Bettis: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER (1.44), 2 BB, 3 K

Bryan Shaw: 0.1

Jake McGee: 0.1

Wade Davis: 1 IP, 1 K, S (8)

Ryan McMahon: 1-for-4, RBI

DJ LeMahieu: 1-for-3, BB

Charlie Blackmon: 1-for-4

What’s Next:

The Rockies aim for their first sweep of 2018 on Wednesday… morning? Kyle Freeland will get the start against Chad Kuhl. First pitch at a brisk 10:35 (AM!) Mountain Time. Coffee with baseball.