DENVER – For some reason, and just about everyone is searching for that reason, the Colorado Rockies just cannot get into a rhythm at home.
For the second straight series at Coors Field, the Rockies were swept by a divisional opponent, first the Dodgers and now the Arizona Diamondbacks who cruised to a 8-3 victory that was almost never truly in doubt. They’ve now lost seven in a row at home and have fallen to 11-19 in their own ballpark.
Starter Kyle Freeland was mostly fine, though unlike most of their recent games, the offense looked like they were out of fighting spirit for most of the game as well.
With the exception of surrendering a second-inning home run to Ketel Marte—who was in the midst of a ridiculously hot stretch, garnering 10 consecutive extra-base hits—Freeland efficiently dominated the Diamondbacks lineup.
He allowed just one baserunner, a walk, over the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but ran into all kinds of trouble after recording one out in the sixth. He had Paul Goldschmidt down 0-2 but Goldy fought back to line a double to center. He then walked John Ryan Murphy before Marte stayed hot but broke his streak of XBH’s by simply singling on a grounder to left, scoring Goldschmidt.
Chris Owings then bounced a soft grounder to third and Nolan Arenado elected to come home with the throw but he bounced it to an awkwardly-positioned Chris Iannetta who was unable to come up with the baseball and apply the tag. This allowed Marte to reach third and eventually score on a sac fly from Jarrod Dyson. Freeland struck out Deven Marrero to finally escape the frame but the damage had been done with Arizona taking a 4-0 lead.
The Rockies finally strung together some offense in the sixth, getting a leadoff single from DJ LeMahieu and a one-out walk from Arenado. Trevor Story popped out on the infield for the second out and Gerardo Parra was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ian Desmond.
Desi came through by firing a ground ball through the right side to score a pair and pull the Rockies to within two. He then, representing the potential tying run, stole second base to give Noel Cuevas a good chance to tie the game with a single. But the rookie stuck out to end the inning, leaving two aboard.
Jerry Vasto made his MLB debut in the following half-inning as manager Bud Black continues his search for somebody—anybody—to give him some quality outings to bridge to Wade Davis. But Vasto fell victim to the same fate that has befallen everyone Black has turned to lately.
He surrendered a leadoff single to Christian Walker, recorded his first career strikeout against Jon Jay, walked Nick Ahmed then gave up a triple to Goldschmidt and a double (seriously?) to Marte. Suddenly, the Diamondbacks led 7-2.
They added another run against Chris Rusin in the eighth.
The Rockies did manage to get one back in the bottom of the ninth after Desmond singled and was replaced on the bases by Mike Tauchman who hit into a fielder’s choice then scored on a gap double off the bat of Chris Iannetta. But that was it for any comeback attempt, making the final score 8-3.
Colorado falls to below .500 at 32-33 and are now back in fourth place in the NL West having entered the weekend tied for first.
What’s Next:
After one of the most needed off days of the season, the Colorado Rockies are back out on the road where they have played a considerably better brand of baseball. They will face the Philadelphia Phillies starting on Tuesday night. John Gray faces off against Aaron Nola. First pitch at 5:10 Mountain Time.
