The best thing the Colorado Rockies can say about the homestand they’ve just completed is that it’s over.
Another devastating loss, by a score of 11-8 to the Giants, concluded a four-game sweep at the hands of their divisional opponents and dropped them into last place in the NL West.
It was a brutal afternoon for starter Jon Gray who has been by far the Rockies best starter this season, especially at home. But he was dinged early and though he recovered for a while, he could not put innings away late, suffering his worst outing at Coors on the season.
Brandon Belt started things with a line drive single to right and he advanced to third on a double to center field by Austin Slater. Pablo Sandoval plated the first two runs of the game by pulling a double to right. He moved up on a ground out and scored on a single off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski before Gray was finally able to put the first inning away with a double play.
Colorado narrowly missed getting them all right back after a one-out double from Trevor Story, a walk for David Dahl, and a deep fly to left for Nolan Arenado. But the ball died on the warning track and Daniel Murphy struck out to strand them both.
They did rally for a pair in the next inning, though. Raimel Tapia led off with a swinging bunt, a rare bit of good luck that has gone the Rockies way lately. He sprinted to third on Ryan McMahon’s double to right field on a low liner. Tony Wolters got the Rockies on the board with a ground out to the right side and Gray helped the cause with a single back up the middle to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Charlie Blackmon swung at the first pitch he saw and hit it right back to the pitcher for a 1-6-3 double play that ended the rally.
Gray walked two in the third and surrendered a one-out double in the fourth but worked out of both situations setting up the Tapia/McMahon combo to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
The speedy left fielder, whose walk rate on the year sits at 1.8 percent, drew a free pass to begin the frame. He speed wasn’t required thereafter as a drive to left from McMahon easily cleared the wall for a two-run homer that put Colorado ahead 4-3.
Unfortunately, that lasted only a short while as the Giants came back with a blip and a blast. Gray got Slater to hit a weak bouncer back toward the mound that would have easily been an out had he just let it go but in trying to field the ball, it bounced off the Gray Wolf’s glove and rolled behind the mound for a single.
A grounder to second from Sandoval looked like it might erase that play but it pulled McMahon just a bit too far to his left and he only had time to get the lead runner. That meant that a laser line drive home run to right for Stephen Vogt gave the advantage back to the Giants at 5-4.
Colorado countered and tied it thanks to a leadoff triple into the left field gap and a soft single to center from Arenado.
Another short-lived respite was over when Donovan Solano opened the sixth with a solo home run to left and the Giants regained the lead.
Another base hit for Belt and a walk to Slater ran Gray from the game and brought in Bryan Shaw. The cutter specialist got a pair of groundball outs to escape any further damage.
Carlos Estévez entered the game in the seventh and got a pair of quick outs before giving up back-to-back line drive singles to Panik and Solano. He then induced a grounder toward short but on a tough chance, Story bobbled the ball and the runner beat the throw to second as a run scored and the inning continued.
Belt poured a little more gas on the fire by adding another run on a single to right before Estévez struck out Slater to put the inning away but not before the Giants had taken an 8-5 lead.
Chad Bettis gave up three more runs and the Rockies made a late rally featuring another ninth-inning home run from Story to make it 11-8 but it all felt like an afterthought at that point.
The Rockies get away from their home park and are off to see some familiar faces in New York with a three-game set against the Yankees.

0 Comments (5 conversations)
Raevt
This must be what rock bottom feels like- I don’t know I feel like I’ve had hope because drew has hope and I’ll be honest I’m loosing it and fast
Raevt
This team lacks leadership ( I think?). We have Nolan, Charlie and story but we need personality. We need desi to change the clubhouse around we need cargo and para to tell people to shut up and smile
Patrick Lyons
While there is some leadership in the clubhouse, the loss of CarGo and the chemistry professor known as Gerardo Parra is notable. Drew and I made a point to discuss this Tuesday on what later become a lost episode of the BSN Rockies Podcast, courtesy of some computer gremlins at Coors Field.
What I’m ultimately saying is that great minds think alike. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Rachel. Keep ’em coming!
Mary Pace
Questions/ thoughts for the podcast:
Non-Rockies: 1) what are your thoughts on the rules the Atlantic League is experimenting with (e-strikezone, bigger bases, stealing 1b)? I really only like the strikezone. 2) thoughts on the Marisnick/Lucroy affair (the collision, Marisnick suspension, Angels retaliate by nearly hitting Marisnick in head)?
Small picture/homestand:
True or False: the reason this homestand turned so sour is because the Rockies’ best players were NOT their best players (pitching, hitting, or defense)? 2. Is David Dahl the most unlucky Rockie in their history?
Big picture: 1) how many more chances will Mark Reynolds get? I was in favor of the signing, but Yikes! it hasn’t turned out well. (Yonder Alonso, Josh Fuentes time?)
2) clubhousiness is a thing, is it enough of a thing that it’s worth paying a guy past his expiration date simply for the WAR or wRC+ he brings others. 3) clubhousiness takes many forms. Are the current Rockies lacking some of these forms? I don’t suggest any current player is BAD for the clubhouse, just wonder if they need a little more.
Mary Pace
Just thought of one more question: I’ve read before some pitchers saying they would rather have TJ surgery than a shoulder surgery because of how unpredictable the recovery can be. I know the throwing needs for a position player are different than a pitcher, but how worrisome is the Brendan Rodgers throwing shoulder labrum surgery? Does it make it more likely he stays at 2b next season?
Patrick Lyons
I’d venture to say he’ll be at 2B for 2020 for this reason, not to mention two gentleman that play on the left side of the infield.
There’s been a recent spate of infielders missing substantial time on the IL for throwing injuries, most recently Corey Seager. I spoke with a scout about this and the number one cause of this is overuse. Youth sports has become about specificity and instead of building a well-rounded young athlete that plays multiple sports, kids are playing one sport year-round and wearing down in certain areas. I believe Paul Molitor was the first infielder to deal with this and that was only in the early ’80s, a cool 100+ years after the game’s professional genesis. The problem of overuse injuries has only gotten worse across all sports, unfortunately.
Lesstko
My biggest take away from this mess: This goes for all sports/all teams: What is it about a team doing bad that brings out a certain population that seems to revel in that fact? “See, I told you they were bad!” And I don’t just mean armchair GMs who question moves, people who only speak up during the rough patches. Honestly, if you hate the team this much just see yourself out please.
Neil Anglen
Hey guys, I’ve got a few comments/questions here:
1)How can the Rockies pitching get their confidence back? I wouldn’t normally be concerned, but hearing that German was close to crying really showed where their heads are at. They seem lost.
2) We’re seeing a lot more ground balls from Rockies hitters. Desi and Wolters especially. Any change in the approaches at the plate for the team?
3) A lot of what happened this home stand was bad luck. The ball that got past Dahl in the corner, Pillar locking down CF, etc. Is it safe to say that the Dodgers sold their souls to the devil to have these bad luck things happen to the rest of the NL West, while they have incredible luck winning games the way no other team should be winning games? 😉