Freddy Peralta dominates Rockies in MLB debut

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies were thoroughly dominated by the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon, falling victim to a remarkably impressive MLB debut from starting pitcher Freddy Peralta who nearly no-hit the Rox in their own ballpark.

It was a brilliant performance from the 21-year-old who happened to have his mom in town for Mother’s Day. While the Rockies have absolutely had their offensive struggles so far in 2018, it’s tough to take any credit away from the stuff and command that Peralta showed in this one.

He broke a Brewers record by striking out 13 hitters in his debut.

Rockies starter Jon Gray, on the other hand, was not sharp. He had swing-and-miss stuff, but his slider was inconsistent and his focus dipped at just the wrong times beginning in the second when a grooved a two-strike slider to Tyler Saladino who hit a ground-rule double to get the Brewers on the board.

Christian Yelich followed with his second-straight hit against Gray, a single through the left side that scored a pair and put Milwaukee on top, 3-0.

Gray threw another mistake pitch in the third, failing to elevate the fastball against Travis Shaw, slotting it right down the middle for the power lefty to smash 452 feet over the high wall in right-center field.

The Rockies righty was able to work around further damage until a couple of singles from Manny Pina and Saladino raised his pitch count enough to mean he needed to exit the game. He did manage to strike out 10 batters but made too many mistakes and could not escape the fifth, handing the ball to Harrison Musgrave.

The lefty was able to strike out Yelich to put but lost a long battle to Jesus Aguilar, giving up a three-run home run on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, giving the Brewers a commanding 7-0 lead.

Colorado finally broke up the no-hitter Peralta was throwing in the sixth on a single to center off the bat of David Dahl. And Tony Wolters broke up the shutout with a solo home run in the seventh, his second of the year.

Dahl added a two-run home run in the eighth to make it a little closer at 7-3 and that was the final. Dahl was the only position player not to strike out in the game.

The Rockies struck out a season-high 15 times in the game. The Brewers also struck out 15 times.

Colorado falls to 22-19, 7-11 at home.

Final Stats:

Freddy Peralta: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 K

Jon Gray: 5.1 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 10 K

Harrison Musgrave: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Brookes Pounders: 2 IP, 1 H, 4 K

David Dahl:2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, HR (2)

Tony Wolters: 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR (2)

What’s Next:

It’s time for a big California road trip as the Rockies head out to San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The first game of a two-game set against the Padres will feature a battle of lefties as Tyler Anderson takes on Joey Lucchesi. First pitch at 8:10 Mountain Time.