Just when things didn’t seem like they could get any worse, the Colorado Rockies starting pitching revived itself.
In the nightcap of the doubleheader on Saturday, David Hale made his Rockies debut with a flourishing outing. He pounded the strike zone and pitched the Rockies to victory. On Sunday it was Chad Bettis’ turn.
The former high-prospect who struggled as a starter, then returned as a reliever and is now back as a starter again reminded the Rockies of what they were so excited about when he came out of Texas Tech. On Sunday, Bettis not only matched Hale’s performance, he went a step past it. In fact, on Sunday, Bettis was just two outs away from a complete game. That is something that hasn’t been discussed by a Rockies starter for what seems like an eternity.
Bettis went 8-1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits. He struck out seven and walked two. That line isn’t even as impressive as his performance actually was. The two runs both came as Bettis ran out of gas in the 9th trying to earn his first complete game in his young career.
It wasn’t just Bettis who had a storybook day. Nolan Arenado, the new face of the franchise, didn’t just break out of his slump, he steamrolled his way out of it. In the 4th inning, Arenado singled to lead off the inning. He came around to score on Nick Hundley’s base hit. Then, later in the inning he returned to the plate to deliver a three-run blast down the left field line to give the Rockies an eight-run inning and a 9-0 lead.
Arenado fell a double short of the cycle, finishing 4-for-5 with four RBIs.
The win might be something that Rockies fans can look back on as the day that the team finally broke out of their horrible losing streak. Throughout May their vaunted offense has been stifled and stymied time and time again. Arenado’s hot start to the season cooled down, Corey Dickerson got sidelined with plantar fasciitus and both Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki couldn’t find their swings.
However, a day like Sunday, after battling a weekend full of rain delays, might have been what puts this team over the top and allows them to start playing a little bit better baseball. While the Rockies are certainly not the team that started out 6-0 on the road, they probably are also not as bad as the team that lost 11 straight games earlier in the month. A game like Sunday’s may give them reason to believe that they can actually beat good teams.
Sunday was the first time in a very long time in which the Rockies got both good starting pitching and good offense. It has been necessary and lacking for the entire month. The team knew that they would struggle with starting pitching, but they probably thought that the offense would be able to overcome the deficiencies on many nights. That hasn’t been the case often enough.
The great news for the Rockies is that both Hale and Bettis are showing that they think they belong in the big league rotation. Usually competition spurs forward more guys to step up and do better. That will be tested shortly for the Rockies.
Sunday was a great way for this team to finish off a homestand and a series. If they can take that momentum on the road they can begin the journey back to respectability.
