The playoffs. Punchless Rockies fall again to Brewers in NLDS Game 2.
Rockies offense struggles to produce in Brew City Colorado returns home in 02 hole in division series
MILWAUKEE»One big hit, in one big moment was all the Rockies needed. It never arrived. And so the frustrated, punchless Rockies lost 40 to the Brewers on Friday in Game 2 of the National League division series before 44,547 frenetic fans at Miller Park
Colorado was shut out for the first time in postseason history and the first time in 60 games at Miller Park.
The Rockies return to Denver in a 20 sinkhole and one game from elimination in the bestoffive series. Game 3 is Sunday afternoon at Coors Field. Colorado’s first trip to the NLDS since 2009 could be a short one.
“It’s tough to pinpoint exactly what’s going on, but we are heading home and hopefully we can get it turned around there,” said shortstop Trevor Story, who’s 0for8 in the series with five strikeouts.
The bottom line Friday: The Brewers, who have won 10 consecutive games, delivered in the clutch; the Rockies could not.
“It was rough today and I felt like we just couldn’t get the big hit,” said allstar third baseman Nolan Arenado, who batted 2for4 but couldn’t come through when it mattered most.
Making the defeat even more painful was that the Rockies wasted another excellent pitching performance, this time by lefthander Tyler Anderson, who gave them six solid innings.
“He pitched great on the road, against a good club,” manager Bud Black said. “I’m really excited about where he is and hoping that he gets another shot.”
Milwaukee iced the game in the eighth, expanding a 10 lead to 40 on an RBI single by Mike Moustakas off Seunghwan Oh, followed by a tworun single by catcher Erik Kratz off Chris Rusin.
Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin, the former Rockie, tied Colorado up in knots for five innings. The veteran righthander, working on only three days of rest, gave up three hits and walked three, looking vulnerable at times. But his revamped slider came through when he needed it the most.
“They have a really good lineup with really good hitters,” Chacin said. “Today I felt like we were making pitches, making them chase and (not leaving) too many pitches on
the plate.”
Prime example: In the third inning, Arenado came to the plate with one out and two on. Chacin whiffed him on three pitches and then got Carlos Gonzalez to chop out meekly to first.
Arenado came to the plate again in the fifth, with one on and two out. Again, Chacin struck him out on three pitches. Arenado, clearly irate with himself, flung his bat, helmet and gloves to ground in frustration.
But the Rockies’ most vexing sequence arrived in the seventh inning when they wasted their best chance to tie the game. Ian Desmond led off with an infield hit off reliever Joakim Soria, then stole second and moved to third on Kratz’s throwing error. Desmond was sitting pretty with no outs and Colorado was down just 10.
Then came two ugly strikeouts by Chris Iannetta and pinch hitter Matt Holliday. They needed to at least make contact, but Sorioa fed them nothing but air. Both struck out on three pitches, and Iannetta’s frustration boiled over when he splintered his bat across his leg.
“I’ve done that before, but only in the tunnel where no one could see it,” Iannetta said. “I was frustrated, of course. I was aggravated I couldn’t come through with the tying run on third. I chased two fastballs at the top of the zone.
“Don’t get me wrong, they are tough pitches to hit, but you want to be able to put the ball in play or get a fly ball.”
Anderson gave the Rockies another terrific postseason start. It was a fine third act, following up Kyle Freeland’s start in the wildcard victory in Chicago and Antonio Senzatela’s solid five innings in Colorado’s 32, 10innings loss in the NLDS opener Thursday.
“I felt the same,” Anderson said when asked if he had any biggame nerves. “For me, my game is trying to hit spots and trying to execute. With a bigger stage — more people yelling, a bigger crowd — it creates more adrenaline. So for me, that can be a detriment. So it was about making quality pitches.”
The Brewers nicked Anderson for one run on four hits. He struck out five and walked two in his first career postseason start. Milwaukee finally punched a run through in the fourth on a double by Moustakas, immediately followed by a runscoring double by Hernan Perez.
Anderson excelled in crisis management in the third. Travis Shaw and Kratz tagged him for backtoback singles and MVP candidate Christian Yelich loaded the bases with a twoout walk. Anderson pitched around the dangerous Yelich, so the walk was quasiintentional. With the bases full, Anderson got Ryan Braun to pop out to center on a 10 fastball.