Rockies offense silenced again in Game 2 loss to Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE – The story for the entire 2018 Colorado Rockies campaign has been the flipping of their script from a club that used to be known for offense and nothing else to one that has relied heavily on pitching and defense.

But that hasn’t stopped the offensive woes of the team from proving problematic throughout the year, especially here in the last three games they have played.

Those struggles were on full display in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers when they collected just six hits and could not score a single run, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position including a couple of brutal situational sequences.

As such, the Brewers rode to a relatively comfortable 4-0 win and the Rockies will need to win in Denver on Sunday to avoid getting swept.

The Rockies got a pair of two-out base runners in the first on a single from Nolan Arenado and a walk to Carlos Gonzalez but Trevor Story struck out on a breaking pitch well into the dirt, missing out on the first chance of the game.

Anderson had not allowed a hit going into the third but was greeted by a pair of singles from Travis Shaw and Erik Kratz. In an interesting play, Chacin went with the slug bunt in an 0-2 count and hit a grounder to third. Arenado opted to run down and tag out the lead baserunner rather than try to attempt a double play, not knowing perhaps if anyone would be able to make it back to first in time to cover the bag.

Lorenzo Cain helped ease the tension of that moment by hitting a fly ball out to right field on the first pitch. Anderson then wisely worked around Christian Yelich, walking him on five pitches to bring Ryan Braun to the plate. In a gutsy move, Anderson started with a curveball that fell into the zone and was swung over for strike one. A high fastball on the next offering jammed Braun and his fly out to centerfield left ’em loaded and kept the game tied.

Anderson wasn’t so fortunate in the fourth, however. After striking out Jesus Aguilar, he got ahead of Mike Moustakas 0-2. But Moose fouled off a couple of tough pitches, took a few close ones, and finally managed to hit a liner into the right-center field gap on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. The first extra-base hit of the game was immediately followed by the second when Hernan Perez jumped on a 1-0 changeup and rocketed it into the other to put Milwaukee on top 1-0.

As Anderson focused in on Travis Shaw, Perez stole third without a throw which then made it easy to pass on Shaw, setting up a potential double play.

The Brewers got aggressive, letting Shaw run on first motion, but Anderson threw behind him to first and Perez took off toward home after Ian Desmond deked a throw to second. The first baseman ran toward Perez and ultimately fired to third. Arenado’s cleverly placed foot kept Perez from sliding back in and the second out was recorded. Anderson got Kratz to fly out to right to end the inning without any further damage.

Desmond gave the Rockies their best chance yet to score when he led off the seventh with an infield single, stole second base, and moved up to third on a wild throw. But Chris Iannetta and Matt Holliday, needing just a fly ball to the outfield to score the tying run, both struck out swinging and Charlie Blackmon’s line drive was right at the second baseman and another chance slipped through their fingers.

The Brewers got a taste of that medicine in the next half-frame, though, when Scott Oberg gave up a leadoff double to Perez and a single to right from Shaw. But CarGo’s cannon kept Perez from even trying for home and Oberg rebounded to strike out the side, leaving them where they stood.

Harrison Musgrave walked Yelich in the only encounter he had in the game before giving way to Seunghwan Oh and Braun came up with a single through the right side in front of a walk to Jesus Aguilar that loaded the bases with nobody out. That’s when the first game’s hero, Mike Moustakas came through with another big hit, grounding a soft single past a pulled-in infield for an RBI single.

Oh came back to strike out Perez and made way for Chris Rusin. Rusin got Shaw to strike out looking but surrendered a broken-bat blooper into left to Kratz, plating another pair of runs to make it 4-0, Brewers.

Gerardo Parra led off the top of the ninth with a single to right, making him and Arenado the only two players with multiple hits for Colorado but he was stranded again and the game ended in a whimper for the Rockies.

It’s back to Denver for a Sunday showdown to stay alive. The Rockies are expected to hand the ball to German Marquez.