Colo. bats fall silent
ROYALS 3, ROCKIES 2 Arenado’s 28th home run not enough
KANSAS CITY, MO.» The dog days of summer might be waning, but the Rockies’ road offense remains all bark and no bite.
The Rockies managed just two hits in a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. That’s correct, two hits, and the sliding Rockies fell for the 10th time in their last 14 games.
Nolan Arenado’s two-out, tworun homer in the sixth inning off starter Danny Duffy ended a nohit bid and produced Colorado’s only runs.
“It’s not just on the road. It’s at home, too,” Arenado said of his club’s offensive woes. “We have to clean up some of these at-bats. It’s just not good enough . ... We can’t just be swinging for the fences the way that it looks like we are. We have to find a way to get on (base), but we aren’t doing that.”
The Rockies made a bid to rally in the ninth inning, when Jonathan Lucroy looped a two-out triple down the right-field line that Melky Cabera dived for and missed. Then closer Kelvin Herrera, clearly struggling, issued back-to-back walks to Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra, who was pinch-hitting for the struggling Trevor Story.
Pat Valaika strode to the plate with the bases loaded and got ahead 2-0 before Herrera was lifted because of forearm tightness. Valaika had a chance to play hero, but he grounded out to short against Scott Alexander to end Colorado’s would-be rally. Alexander notched his first career save.
“Duffy was good, but we’ve have talked about (not) hitting with runners in scoring position, of late,” manager Bud Black said.
Duffy dominated the Rockies, expertly mixing his pitches and keeping the Rockies off-balance. The Royals left-hander whiffed seven and walked three in six innings.
“He had a three-pitch mix, with good velocity,” Black said. “A good fastball with some life to it, a good change and a good breaking ball. He manipulated the breaking ball and had our guys aware of three quality pitches. We just couldn’t solve him.”
The Rockies (68-57) fell a half game behind Arizona for the National League’s top wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks beat the
Mets 7-4 in New York on Tuesday.
Arenado’s homer was his 28th of the season. He drilled Duffy’s 1-1, 91 mph fastball 411 feet, just far enough to clear the centerfield wall and get the Rockies back into the game. Arenado, who drove in DJ LeMahieu after he drew a walk, has a big-league best 107 RBIs.
Colorado’s inconsistent offense has failed to meet expectations for much of the season, and it has become nearly dormant on the road.
The Rockies have now lost 22 of their last 28 games away from Coors Field, and their lackluster offense is a big reason why. Over that span, the Rockies are batting .230, averaging 3.5 runs per game, and have scored three runs or fewer 20 times. They are now 1-19 in those games.
Perhaps the most discouraging part Tuesday night is that the Rockies failed to back up another solid start by Jon Gray. The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) over six innings. He walked only one while striking out six.
“I was glad I was able to stick it out and carry it into the seventh,” Gray said. “We did a really good job of calling secondary pitches tonight, and we mixed a lot of curveballs and sliders in, and they weren’t laying on fastballs. We even mixed in a changeup tonight.”
Kansas City’s two-run fourth inning was Gray’s undoing. A leadoff triple to right by Cabrera, an unfortunate infield chopper to third for an RBI single by Eric Hosmer and an RBI double by Salvador Perez put the Royals in front 3-0.
The Royals got on the scoreboard in the first off Gray when Whit Merrifield singled, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. With two out and Hosmer at the plate, Gray threw a slider that handcuffed catcher Lucroy. Merrifield scored, and Lucroy was charged with a passed ball.
Arenado, at least, provided some sparkle on a dismal evening, adding a clip to his growing and legendary highlight reel in the third inning. Alcides Escobar hit a chopper down the third-base line, the ball taking Arenado deep into foul ground as he snared it.
No matter. Arenado made a leaping throw from the thirdbase coach’s box to throw out Escobar. The play brought cheers from not only the Rockies’ dugout but from the Royals’ fans.