The Colorado Rockies just couldn’t put the bat on the ball with any kind of consistency in a whimper of a game against the Miami Marlins, losing 5-1.

Starting pitcher Jon Gray was mostly excellent surrendering only two runs on the same pitch, a home run to Christian Yelich in the sixth. It was a decently located pitch but Yelich is a decent offensive player and turned on the inside fastball, driving it over the left-field fence.

Gray allowed only six hits over six innings, striking out four and walking two. His replacement, Gonzalez Germen, allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning, one of his worst outings of the year.

The lone Rockies run came in the top of the sixth. Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-out double which turned out to be the Rockies only hit of the game. This was vintage Colorado in Miami. Even the fact that their only run came in when Ryan Raburn was struck by a pitch with the bases loaded bust just a perfect slap in the face for an offense that just couldn’t get any traction whatsoever.

Giancarlo Stanton drove in a pair of runs in the seventh as part of a two-hit day for him, bringing his average all the way up to .200. Probably shouldn’t wake the beast, though.

To be fair to the Rockies offense, DJ LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Ryan Raburn, and Nick Hundley all drew a walk in the game. So … there’s that.

Miami starter Adam Conley worked 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking five, allowing only the CarGo double. The Marlins staff was perfect the rest of the way.

Lasting Impact

In isolated moments, this kind of performance isn’t a killer for the team but it is absolutely the blueprint for the types of games that would turn into stretches that would bury this team in year’s past.

Given numerous opportunities, the Rockies have proven themselves to have many differences from the teams lead by a player whose last name rhymes with “Zulowhisky” but they need to have a quick turnaround if they don’t want to give back all the goodwill earned by the recent great stretch at home.

What’s Next

Game 2 against Miami starts at 2:10 MST tomorrow afternoon. Tyler Chatwood continues his All-star hunt against Wei-Yin Chen.