Rockies winning streak snapped in frustrating loss to Angels

DENVER – The nightmare kept repeating itself for the Colorado Rockies offense, especially Ian Desmond. Presented with plenty of opportunities to score, the strikeouts piled up and the men left on base began to form sub-communities out of fear of overpopulation.

Getting runners on base in every inning but the first, the Rockies were shutout in an 8-0 loss to the Angels that snapped a six-game winning streak.

Starting pitcher Tyler Anderson was also not as sharp as his rotation brethren have been lately, giving up a run in the first on a double from Zack Cozart and a single from Mike Trout to open up the game. He was tagged in the third by a pair of home runs from Cozart and Justin Upton which broke a stretch of nine straight quality starts by Rockies pitching.

Colorado missed out on golden scoring opportunities in the second and fourth.

In the former, Carlos Gonzalez led off with a double and advanced on a fly ball to deep left field off the bat of Trevor Story. Chris Iannetta followed with a walk but Ian Desmond and Daniel Castro struck out back-to-back to strand runners at first and third.

The latter rally-that-never-was also began with CarGo who singled to lead off the fourth. Story was plunked in the next at-bat but the bottom of the order came up empty again with strikeouts from Iannetta and Desmond and a weak fly out from Castro.

It happened again in the sixth after a lead-off single (favorable call not giving Andrelton Simmons the error if you ask me) but CarGo and Story struck out before Iannetta was hit by a pitch. So it was time once more for Desmond to try to deliver with two outs and he struck out with runners on for the third time in the game.

The Angels ran away with it in the final innings, getting a solo home run against Chris Rusin and two runs on four hits against Brooks Pounders to make it a 7-0 game.

The Rockies put the icing on the frustration cake in the eighth inning, once again getting the first two aboard thanks to a single from David Dahl and a double by Arenado. And once again, the Angels managed to escape any damage by racking up the strikeouts, reliever Jose Alvarez getting Gonzalez, Story, and Iannetta in order.

That gave the Rockies 13 strikeouts in the game and made them 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

To make matters worse for the home team, the Angels got an insurance run they absolutely did not need when Mike Dunn walked in a run in the ninth.

And for good measure, the Rockies got another pair of baserunners in the bottom of the inning, a two-out walk from Tony Wolters and a single by Blackmon. But Dahl ground out to first to end the game.

The Colorado Rockies were due for a clunker and they sure clunked this one. They drop to 21-16.

Final Stats:

Tyler Anderson: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Chris Rusin: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Brooks Pounders: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER

Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB

Carlos Gonzalez: 2-for-3

David Dahl: 2-for-4

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-4

Ian Desmond: 0-for-4, 4 K

Charlie Blackmon: 1-for-5, 2 K

Trevor Story: 0-for-3, 2 K

What’s Next:

The Rockies open a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers who will begin on Thursday by pitching former Rockie Jhoulys Chacin. German Marquez gets the rock for Colorado. First pitch at 6:40 Mountain Time.