Sanchez throws a gem, Rockies drop series finale 5-3

DENVER — Colorado Rockies starter Tyler Anderson continues to show a ton of promise in just his fourth start but the Toronto Blue Jays got to him just enough and the home offense went silent in a 5-3 loss at Coors Field.

The Blue Jays struck first in the second inning with a strange run that went unearned because Edwin Encarnacion had only reached base because of catcher’s interference on Tony Wolters. Toronto plated a pair of more traditional runs in the next frame, one on Josh Donaldson‘s 18th home run of the season and one coming on a single from Troy Tulowitzki. Anderson kept his composure and worked through the traffic to keep the game close. He cruised through his final two innings finishing with 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 6 K. He threw 78 of his 106 pitches for strikes.

He threw all of his pitches in all quadrants of the strike zone with confidence, inducing a number of ugly swings from some highly-talented hitters.  His slider, in particular, was responsible for some hefty whiffs.

Anderson became the first pitcher in Rockies history to throw at least five innings and allow two or fewer runs in each of his first four starts. Not a bad way to start a career.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Rockies started things promisingly on consecutive hits from Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez but Mark Reynolds quickly hit into a double play, leaving anyone who has watched this team for a long time with that familiar feeling that a good opportunity was going to slip away. Daniel Descalso came through with a two-out single up the middle, however, giving the Rockies their first run of the game and it was 3-1.

The Jays tacked on a run off of Jordan Lyles in the seventh to make it 4-1. It looked for a moment that the Rockies would get right back in the game in just after the stretch, but Ryan Raburn grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded and one out, closing the door on the comeback attempt and the game as the next two frames were uneventful.

Lasting Impact

This was likely to be a low energy game from the outset with these two teams playing until after 1 AM this morning and being back at the field by 10:00 AM to answer questions from the media. Brandon Barnes, for example, told BSN Denver he was working on about two hours of sleep. Also, both of today’s starters have been very good of late and as such we ended up with a low-frills straightforward game that can’t be analyzed too heavily in the grand scheme because most of the players were simply trying to get through it.

By The Numbers

2-13 – Tulo’s batting line this series, he had one HR, and two RBI.

2 – The number of Rockies that were injured, DJ Lemaheiu and Trevor Story sat out this afternoon’s contest.

6 – The Rockies are about to head off on a six game road trip.

What’s Next

The Rockies finally get an off day tomorrow (and they desperately need one) and will pick things back up on Friday evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jorge De La Rosa will be on the mound for the Rockies, the Dodger’s starter is still to be determined. First pitch at 8:10 MST.