After last night’s exciting extra innings win against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Colorado Rockies took the field at Citizen’s Bank Park today looking to have a three-game winning streak. It would have been a great way to rebound after their six-game losing streak they snapped earlier in the week.
Sadly, the streak was not to be.
A slump-busting Alec Boehm led the Phillies offense to a commanding nine-run victory, and the Rockies had little to offer as a response.
Freefall
After giving up a leadoff single and stolen base to the speedy Trea Turner, left-handed starter Kyle Freeland showed some of his best stuff, recording six straight outs with three strikeouts.
Then everything fell apart in the third inning.
Freeland allowed five earned runs on six hits in a third inning that started with a home run, two singles, and another home run before he recorded his first out. After his first out, he gave up a double and single for another run.
While eventually he stopped the bleeding, the Phillies had already rocketed ahead.
Freeland settled down somewhat in the next two innings. He did give up a solo home run to start the fourth inning—Alec Boehm’s second of the game. The Phillies did score a seventh run in the fifth inning, but it was unearned due to a defensive miscue at shortstop by Willie Castro. Freeland’s final line for the game saw him dinged for seven runs—six earned—on ten hits and three home runs over five innings before he was replaced by Tanner Gordon.
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Second verse, same as the first
Much like Freeland, Tanner Gordon looked sharp through his first two innings of work. He gave up just one hit and struck out two batters without issuing a walk or giving up an earned run. However, also like Freeland, things fell apart in his third inning of work.
Gordon kicked off the bottom of the eighth inning by giving up two singles followed by a bases clearing Alec Boehm double. He sat down the next three batters in quick succession, including with another strikeout, but the damage was done and the game was severely out of reach for the Rockies offense heading into the top of the ninth inning.
The Rockies used up all the offense last night
Things started out on a relatively promising note for the Rockies against Phillies starter Aaron Nola. They struck out just twice over the first four innings and seemed to have some momentum after last night’s extra innings affair.
Willi Castro kicked things off with a solo home run in the second inning.
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The Rockies then rallied in the fourth to keep the game within striking distance despite Kyle Freeland’s difficult third inning of work. A Troy Johnston single and a walk drawn by Jake McCarthy thanks to a well-used ABS challenge set the table for Kyle Karros. Karros doubled to plate both runners.
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Unfortunately, the Rockies offense did very little of note the rest of the game. They had two runners on in the fifth but failed to plate a run from the opportunity. From the sixth inning onward, nine out of the Rockies’ final ten batters were set down—punctuated in the eighth when TJ Rumfield was hit by a pitch. Seven of those batters struck out.
Coming Up Next:
The Rockies still have a chance to bounce back and win the series tomorrow morning. The right-handed Tomoyuki Sugano will look to continue a string of strong starts against Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez. First pitch is scheduled for 11:35 AM MDT.
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