Rockies’ road misery continues as Giants register series sweep
How to describe the Rockies’ latest road debacle? Let the numbers do the talking:
* They lost 7-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park, their 10th consecutive loss to the Giants, tied for their longest losing streak to the Giants in franchise history.
* They went 1-5 on their six-game journey through Arizona and San Francisco, getting outscored 33-13.
* For just the third time in franchise history, they did not hit a home run on a road trip of six games or longer.
* They committed two more errors Wednesday, and now have an error in five consecutive games. Colorado’s .981 fielding percentage ranks 25th in baseball.
* They have lost nine of their last 10 games away from Coors Field.
The Rockies hoped another stellar start by Chad Kuhl would lift them out of the doldrums. Nope.
They hoped to get their bats going against Giants right-hander Alex Cobb, who came into the game 1-1 with a middling 4.80 ERA. No way. Cobb, mesmerizing the Rockies with his split-finger fastball, gave up one run on three hits over 5L innings. He struck out six, four of them on called third strikes.
Although Kuhl scrambled out of trouble in the first and third innings with key strikeouts, the Giants beat him up in the fourth and fifth to take a 5-0 lead.
Kuhl hurt himself in the fourth, issuing a leadoff walk to Mike Yastrzemski, and then throwing wildly to first trying to pick him off. That opened the door for the Giants’ three-run inning, which included an RBI single by Joey Bart, who entered the game hitting .158.
Kuhl, who had eight strikeouts, fanned Joc Pederson and Yastrzemski to open the fifth, but Thairo Estrada rapped a single and Brandon Crawford followed with a two-run homer to right-center.
Kuhl entered the game 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in his first five starts and had allowed just 16 hits. But he suffered his first loss as San Francisco reached him for seven hits. Kuhl’s ERA rose to 2.88.
Kuhl, of course, is not at the core of Colorado’s current problems. Its anemic offense is.
Kris Bryant, who signed a seven-year, $182 million free-agent deal, was supposed to provide power on the road, but he’s still on the injured list with a back strain.
The other primary home run hitters in the lineup — C.J. Cron, Ryan Mcmahon, Elias Diaz and Charlie Blackmon — came up empty on the six-game trip.
Colorado’s only run on Wednesday, fittingly, came on an RBI, infield single by Charlie Blackmon. Cron and Mcmahon both went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
The Rockies are off today before beginning a ninegame homestand.