ROCKIES’ BULLPEN HIT WITH ANOTHER LOSS
Rockies lose second-straight game in bottom of 9th
MILWAUKEE» The Rockies desperately needed a victory. Not just to keep pace in the torrid National League playoff race. They needed it for their psyche.
They didn’t get it.
Eric Thames hit a gigantic, threerun walk-off homer off struggling closer Wade Davis, lifting the Brewers to a 5-3 victory Friday night at Miller Park. It was Colorado’s third walk-off loss in five games.
It was the first time Colorado suffered back-to-back walk-off losses since 2013. But that Rockies team wasn’t in a pennant race; this one is.
The obvious question to manager Bud Black after Friday night’s game was whether or not it is time to pull Davis from his role as closer, at least for the time being.
“No,” was Black’s quick answer. Davis, who blew a save against the Cardinals in the ninth inning on Thursday afternoon, struck out former Royals teammate Mike Moustakas to get the first out of the ninth Friday night. But then he walked Jesus Aguilar on five pitches and Travis Shaw on a full count. Out No. 2 came on a popup to Davis by Jonathan Schoop. Then came Thames’ homer to deep right field — the sec- ond walk-off home run of his career.
“He was ready for it, a fastball in,” said Davis, who blew his sixth save of the season and saw his ERA rise to 5.09. He has blown three saves in each of his last three chances vs. Milwaukee.
“I was definitely trying to elevate it another 10 to 12 inches higher,” Davis said of the fastball that Thames mashed 404 feet for the game-winner. “We had thrown two curveballs in a row and we were going to go back to it. I was just trying to elevate the pitch.”
Black predicted that Davis, who signed a three-year, $52 million deal
to come to Colorado, will bounce back from the difficult stretch.
“He’s had a couple of rough ones, (but) you just have to keep going,” Black said. “He’s one of the best relievers in the game. He’s had a couple of rough nights. But Wade is going to be fine.”
Davis agreed. When asked if his confidence was shaken, he replied: “No. I had good stuff the whole inning. When you are going through stretches like this, it’s just tough for the whole team to swallow, more than (for) my selfish reasons.”
Right-hander Adam Ottavino, Colorado’s only truly dependable reliever all season, took care of Milwaukee in the eighth, setting the Brewers down in order despite a monster flyball from Christian Yelich to right field that finally settled into Carlos Gonzalez’s glove. Ottavino also got Gold Glove help from shortstop Trevor Story, who charged Lorenzo Cain’s slow roller to record the final out of the inning.
While the drama came at the end of the game, the Rockies got strong performances from starter German Marquez, Story and Gonzalez.
Marquez pitched another terrific game. Over seven innings, he gave up two runs on just three hits, struck out nine and walked two.
Black pulled him after seven innings for pinch-hitter Ryan McMahon. At the point, Marquez had thrown 98 pitches (67 for strikes) and still looked strong. His curveball was exceptional.
“I used it quite a bit because I had command of that pitch,” Marquez said. “The depth was really good, so I went to that a lot tonight.”
Story led off the fifth with a solo home run to center, a 417-foot blast that came off his bat at 104 mph. He mashed Junior Guerra’s first-pitch slider for his 21st homer of the season to tie the game 1-1.
Gonzalez’s two-run laser over the right-field wall off Guerra put Colorado ahead 3-1 in the sixth. He drove in Charlie Blackmon, who drew a leadoff walk. Gonzalez has 14 home runs, matching his total for the entire 2017 season.
Gonzalez acknowledged the tough loss, and the Rockies are 1-4 on the current road trip, but he said the team will recover.
“Absolutely, because we have the right team to do it,” Gonzalez said. “It’s tough, but we have to be able to wash it off. You don’t really like blaming anybody because at the end of the day, we win together and we lose together.”
Milwaukee trimmed the Rockies’ lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the frame when Yelich punished Marquez’s 81 mph hanging curveball for a leadoff home run. Regardless, it was another fine performance by Marquez, who lowered his road ERA to 3.09.
The game, however, started off poorly for Marquez, as it does for so many Rockies pitchers. He walked Yelich and Lorenzo Cain to open the Brewers’ first inning and then served up an RBI single to Moustakas.
Of the 64 earned runs Marquez has allowed this season, 25 have come in the first inning. As a team, Colorado has allowed 91 first-inning runs, the most in the majors. Charlie has been swinging the bat well lately.”
Blackmon’s 13-game hitting streak ended Tuesday, but during the streak he hit .345 with seven doubles and three home runs.
Footnotes.