Gray finds his form, but bullpen blows it
milwaukee» Jon Gray got back on track, but once again the Rockies’ bullpen couldn’t.
Three relievers combined to surrender three seventh-inning runs as the Rockies dropped a stomach-turning 6-4 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Hernan Perez’s two-run, twoout triple off Carlos Estevez put the Brewers ahead in the seventh, and the Brewers added an insurance run in the eighth on Domingo Santana’s sacrifice fly to ruin a strong start by the rookie Gray.
Gray delivered a redemption start and left after six innings with a 4-2 lead.
Pinch-hitter Orlando Arcia hit a one-out double against Rockies reliever Jake McGee, and Jonathan Villar delivered Arcia with a double of his own off Boone Logan.
Logan got Scooter Gennett on strikes, then intentionally walked Ryan Braun.
Carlos Estevez came on, and Perez lashed an 0-2 pitch just inside the line and into the rightfield corner for a two-run triple.
Milwaukee added an insurance run in the eight off Matt Carasiti, and Corey Knebel pitched the ninth for his first major-league save.
The Rockies put two runners on with two out in the ninth, but Nick Hundley grounded into a fielder’s choice to third.
Gray had allowed 18 earned runs in 12 innings over his previous three starts. Rockies manager Walt Weiss said before the game that he had seen some positive signs in Gray’s last outing. Gray put the truth to that statement with some gusto.
He struck out two in the first inning. Although he allowed an RBI double to Martin Maldonado and another run on a wild pitch, Gray also punched out two more hitters in the second. Then he really got it going.
“Jonny did a great job,” Weiss said. “I thought he found his slider tonight around the second or third inning and was missing bats, striking guys out. He looked like the guy we know. That was a great sign.”
Gray struck out Braun and Perez with sliders to close the third,
then mowed down Chris Carter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Keon Broxton in the fourth to give him nine K’s for the game. He added strikeout No. 10 in the sixth.
After Gray’s minor mishap in the second gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead, the Rockies struck back quickly in the third off Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson.
Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl singled to put runners on the corners, and Arenado didn’t waste a second, blasting the first pitch he saw into the second deck in left for his National League-leading 33rd homer and a 3-2 Rockies lead.
Gray retired 11 straight Brewers beginning with the final two batters of the third, and even did some lifting with his bat.
After Cristhian Adames walked with two outs in the sixth against reliever Jhan Marinez, Gray lasered a drive into the gap in rightcenter for an RBI double that made it 4-2.
Gray finally ran into some trouble in the sixth but wiggled off the hook. Gennett singled and Braun walked to open the inning. After Gray struck out Perez, he walked Carter to load the bases.
Nieuwenhuis, the Denver Christian alum who foiled the Rockies a night earlier, popped out to shallow left, and Gray got Broxton to pop out to right.
Gray exited in a double-switch after the top of the seventh with 10 strikeouts and just two runs allowed on four hits. His 10 strikeouts gave him 141 for the season, eclipsing Jhoulys Chacin’s team rookie mark of 138 set in 2010.
Weiss wasn’t too hard on his relievers. “Yeah, we’ve got some young, talented guys in the bullpen that are learning on the job,” he said. “Sometimes you go through these types of things, but it’s always frustrating when you’re winning late and you don’t put the game away. No doubt.”
Weiss added: “We’ve got a few guys down there searching for their confidence right now, and sometimes it takes just going out there and putting down a clean inning once or twice, and then they regain that confidence. We’ll just keep working through it.”