Hurdle-led Pirates feel right at home
Rockies give up four runs in seventh, including a three-run shot
It was a dark and stormy Monday night at Coors Field, and an especially gloomy one for the slumping Rockies, who dropped their third straight game at home.
Manager Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates, acting like they own the joint, beat the Rockies 6-1 — the Pirates’ sixth consecutive victory at Coors Field.
Pittsburgh left fielder Matt Joyce broke open a tight game with a three-run homer in the seventh inning off reliever Scott Oberg, who was called up from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier in the day.
Colorado starter Chad Bettis, who pitched six strong innings, ran into big trouble earlier in the seventh, giving up a single, two walks and a wild pitch. Oberg was called on to extinguish trouble, but Joyce blasted a 1-2 pitch deep into the seats beyond left-center. Giving up home runs was Oberg’s Achilles’ heel last season, when he served up 10 in 58L innings.
Bettis deserved a better fate but was saddled with his first loss of the season. The right-hander was charged with four runs on six hits over 6M innings.
The game was delayed 30 minutes in the bottom of the second inning by lightning and brief, heavy rain. That was a prelude of the ugly storm to come.
Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke pitched a terrific game, made even better by his friend behind home plate — umpire Lance Barrett, who tossed two Rockies for arguing balls and strikes. Locke pitched six scoreless innings, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out eight Rockies — five of them looking.
Manager Walt Weiss wasn’t around to see the end of this game. He was ejected in the bottom of the fourth for screaming at Barrett about the curious strike zone. A bewildered Nick Hundley had just been called out on strikes — the fourth time, at the point, a Rockies batter struck out looking.
It was the first ejection of the season for the Rockies but not the last. Outfielder Ryan Raburn got the heave-ho from Barrett in the sixth after he was called out on strikes. Raburn was walking away from Barrett and heading back to the dugout when he was ejected. By the end of the night, the Rockies
had struck out nine times, six looking.
The Rockies’ hitters never adjusted and their bats were mostly silent, and Colorado couldn’t convert when given a chance to create a big inning.
The fifth looked promising. A single by DJ LeMahieu, a perfect sacrifice bunt by Bettis and a bunt single by Gerardo Parra left the Rockies with men on first and third and one out. But Locke struck out Trevor Story, and Carlos Gonzalez popped out to center to end the opportunity.
Colorado pushed across a run in the seventh, but it could have been more. Nolan Arenado popped out with two men on base to end the inning.
The Pirates cracked through for their first run against Bettis in the fifth. Bettis plunked Josh Harrison, who took third on Jordy Mercer’s single to right and scored on John Jaso’s groundout to second.