Story time puts Brewers to bed

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies kept a bit of the offensive momentum but cut out the chaos of their previous contest with the Milwaukee Brewers to emerge victorious by a score of 4-0 on a cool and damp evening at Coors Field.

Trevor Story played the role of offensive hero, driving in all four of the Rockies runs and reaching base in all four of his plate appearances. Nolan Arenado also contributed a bit with the bat and added some trademark brilliant defense at third base, turning in no fewer than three noteworthy putouts.

The bullpen was able to redeem themselves and Kyle Freeland was once again the man in Denver, combining for the shutout, giving the Rockies a chance to split the set on Sunday.

Story started the fireworks after a two-out triple from Arenado in the bottom of the first. He stayed back on a first-pitch breaking ball and smashed it over the wall in the deepest part of the park in left-center field.

A two-man, two-out rally from the same two men took place in inning number two with two consecutive two-baggers from Arenado and Story.

Standing again at the plate with two outs, this time with nobody on base in the fifth, Story took matters into his own hand, depositing a change-up deep over the left-field fence for his second home run of the game and 10th of the season. It also put him at a team-leading 32 RBI.

Kyle Freeland, knowing full well that Bud Black has had to use so many relievers the past few games that I swear I saw Rafael Betancourt warming up at one point, did his best to get through seven innings for the third straight game but fell just short.

He dominated the entire Brewers lineups except, oddly, his opposite number Brent Suter whose ground-rule double accounted for the only extra-base hit against Freeland who otherwise scattered three singles. He did walk four batters, including Suter once, which ultimately kept him from going deeper into the game.

Still, this was the kind of start the Rockies needed after a rough one for Bettis in Friday night’s contest that spun out of control.

As Freeland began to lose command, surrendering a single and a walk, Bryan Shaw and Mike Dunn were able to put away the sixth inning without any further incident, picking up Freeland’s start, stranding the pair of baserunners.

Adam Ottavino pitched another stellar inning, striking out two in the eighth.

Wade Davis came on less than 24 hours after blowing a two-run lead with two outs and his second save of the season and was greeted with a lead-off single from Hernan Perez. But he paid that little mind, retiring the next three in order with a pair of strikeouts to preserve the shutouts, secure the win, and put his 15th save of the season in the books.

Colorado improved to 22-18, 7-10 at home. It was their fifth shutout of the season and second at home.

Final Stats:

Kyle Freeland: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER 4 BB, 6 K

Bryan Shaw: 0.1 IP

Mike Dunn: 0.1 IP

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 2 K

Trevor Story: 3-for-3, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-4, 2 R

Chris Iannetta: 2-for-4

What’s Next:

The Rockies aim for the series split on Sunday afternoon and will hand the ball to the top man in the rotation, Jon Gray. The Brewers have yet to announce their starter. First pitch at 1:10 Mountain Time.