DENVER – This one was over almost as soon as it began.
In a long slog of a game at Coors Field on Thursday night between the Colorado Rockies and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the home club was throttled right out of the gate and never recovered in an ultimate 11-8 loss that looks a lot closer than it felt.
Starter Chi Chi Gonzalez had one lousy day at the office, getting hammered in just two thirds of an inning of work.
Kevin Newman had a night to remember for the Bucs, opening the game by blasting the second pitch way over the wall in left field for a solo home run. Bryan Reynolds and Starling Marte followed with singles and Josh Bell walked to load the bases. Colin Moran landed the first big gut punch by lining a double into the right field gap to make it 3-0.
Jose Osuna popped up for the first out of the game before Adam Frazier and Jacob Stallings threw out another couple of singles to put the game at 5-0.
Pitcher Trevor Williams gave himself up on a sac bunt before Newman added his second RBI of the inning through the right side for the whopping 7-0 lead.
Gonzalez was removed from the game for Yency Almonte who got the third out of the first inning on the first pitch he threw.
Colorado responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half thanks to hits from Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, and Daniel Murphy but both of those were given back by Almonte in the top of the second.
The Rockies got one back in the third on doubles from Blackmon and Murphy but that was all they could muster.
Almonte did his job to bite the bullet for the team but gave up one more in the fourth on a solo homer to Osuna.
Newman hit his second home run of the game in the fifth against reliever Jesus Tinoco to extend Pittsburgh’s lead out to 11-3.
Colorado came storming back, scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth to suddenly make it a close contest, all with two outs.
Yonder Alonso flew out and Blackmon struck out to begin the frame. A pinch-hitting Yonathan Daza got the rally started by slicing a triple inside the line in right. Murphy backed that up with a walk and both men scored on a screaming line drive into the gap off the bat of Ryan McMahon.
He was plated on Ian Desmond’s 30th double of the season off the wall in center and Desmond came around on the second home run of Sam Hilliard’s career, a long ball launched one the opposite way to pull his club to within three runs. Dom Nunez walked and Garrett Hampson singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Alonso struck out in his second at-bat of the inning to finally end the rally.
Colorado could not complete the comeback, though, going down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
They fell to 59-76 on the season.
