Coming into tonight’s matchup, it felt like the Colorado Rockies had an uphill battle to fight against the red hot Milwaukee Brewers and their flamethrowing ace Jacob Misiorowski. The Miz leads the league in strikeouts while the Rockies offense is bottom-five in that department.
The game seemed like it would hang on starting pitching even more so because of concerns around Zach Agnos and his return to the majors. He got roughed up in his last two bullpen appearances, giving up seven runs in each.
On paper, it felt like the Rockies could be susceptible to giving up a lot of runs early and like they might not be able to get many baserunners on, falling into a deep hole.
Those things didn’t quite play out that way. Agnos didn’t last long, but was able to minimize the early damage. Misiorowski posted eight strikeouts and was as formidable as expected. The Rockies were able to put him in a couple of somewhat vulnerable positions, but couldn’t capitalize on his (limited) mistakes. The bullpen allowed the game to get out of hand in the late innings and a slew of solo homers broke the game open in the late innings.
A busy three innings for Agnos
Agnos made his first start since May 21st. He performed considerably better in that lone start than he has as a bullpen arm lately. Luckily, that trend continued tonight, although he wasn’t flawless.
After getting the first two batters to line out and ground out, Agnos couldn’t notch the final out and gave up a solo home run to Brice Turang.
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Agnos followed that with a walk to Jake Bauers before escaping the inning down 1-0.
The second inning was essentially identical. Agnos got through the first two batters fairly easily before giving up another solo shot, this time to David Hamilton. After Hamilton, Agnos walked Christian Yelich and then secured the third out.
Agnos only lasted three innings in his first game back after being recalled to the majors, finishing his day after 57 pitches, surrendering three hits (including the two homers), three walks, and one strikeout. Blas Castaño entered the game to start the fourth inning, down 2-0.
A “challenging” night for Castaño (in a good way!)
Castaño was a bright spot for the Rockies bullpen, both in how he pitched and how he delivered on some strategic ABS challenges.
Challenges from pitchers have been few and far between this season. Castaño joined the club and — rightfully — called for one to work out of a jam in the fourth. With runners on first and second, Castaño challenged a called ball on a 3-2 count, which was overturn to convert a walk into an inning ending strikeout to keep the game at 2-0.
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Later, in the sixth inning, another Rockies challenge overturned a Castaño pickoff attempt at first that was initially called safe.
Castaño posted 2.2 scoreless innings, with three hits and two strikeouts. In his postgame comments, manager Warren Schaeffer noted that, “Blas has been really good for us. Attacking the strike zone, pitching with energy, a firm heater. Throwing strikes, throwing strikes, throwing strikes. I like how he pitches.“
Pitching and defense kept Colorado in it, briefly
Castaño’s performance and some nice defensive plays kept the Rockies hanging around. The offense finally broke through and got on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
Edouard Julien reached base on a throwing error, taking second. Then, Misiorowski gave up just his fourth hit with a running in scoring position this season (he was 3-for-35 before that), as a Kyle Karros double brought Julien home to bring the game to 2-1.
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Through six innings, the Rockies only trailed by one in a low-scoring affair. It looked, for those few fleeting moments, like the Rockies bats might be able to chip away at Misiorowski.
The Rockies best opportunity to get over on Misiorowski came in the bottom of the sixth. Jake McCarthy singled to start things off and moved to second on a wild pitch. In a scary situation, Tyler Freeman was hit in the helmet with a 98 MPH cutter. He was thankfully up and alert after, but exited the game immediately.
Misiorowski got the next out before walking Hunter Goodman to load the bases. With Misiorowski rattled and ducks on the pond with just one out, the Rockies were in prime position to take the lead, or at least tie it up. Unfortunately, Troy Johnston went on to fly out to shallow left and Ezequiel Tovar grounded out to second.
Schaeffer later lamented the lack of a conversion there: “That’s right where we want to be. Just didn’t cash in tonight.”
Heat and K’s from the Miz
Th Rockies offense made a lot of contact early in the game, taking only one strikeout through the first two innings. Schaeffer talked about that plan to attack Misiorowski’s fastball: “You know he’s gonna throw a bunch of ‘em, and you don’t wait a guy like that out. You attack him.”
Even though Colorado limited the strikeout damage early, Misiorowski was still able to get through the first few innings with a very low pitch count. He logged a handful of one or two pitch outs with the Rockies attacking so aggressively.
Misiorowski is piling up quality starts, doing so in the last five straight games coming into tonight. You can make that six. He looked sharp through his seven innings pitched, giving up only four hits and one run (unearned), finishing with eight strikeouts. His season ERA drops from 1.65 to 1.50.
The Miz brought lots of firepower. On his 98 pitches thrown, more than half were over 100 MPH. Of note, he threw a meteor that would have given him the fastest pitch thrown this season. San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller currently holds that record at 103.8 MPH. Misiorowski almost nabbed the lead tonight, tossing a 103.7 MPH fastball.
Bullpen decisions prove costly (again)
Aside from Castaño looking sharp, the rest of the bullpen allowed the Brewers to expand their lead.
Castaño was removed in the in the top of the sixth after throwing 45 pitches, with two outs and a runner on first. Brennan Bernardino entered the game and worked into a jam immediately, giving up a single and putting runners on the corners. He was able to escape, striking out Jackson Chourio.
Bernardino wouldn’t fare as well in the seventh, giving up a dinger to William Contreras, followed by a couple more runs to bring the game to 5-1, with Bauers and Blake Perkins scoring on a fielding error.
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In another fun bright spot, TJ Shook entered the game and got his first major league strikeout. In a less fun sad spot, Shook gave up two more homers, one to Turang (his second of the night) and one to Bauers.
The Rockies kept things close for a while against an impeccable starter, but the Brewers hit the most home runs they have all season as the bullpen got picked apart.
Up Next
It’s a Dinger giveaway day at the ballpark! Fans will walk away their favorite purple triceratops in “bobblehead” form, but complete with 360 degree spinning action!
As for the game itself, the Rox and the Brew Crew will conclude the three-game series on Sunday afternoon with a 1:10 p.m. first pitch, with the Rockies looking to avoid the sweep.
Kyle Freeland will take the mound for Colorado, entering with a 1-6 record and an 8.06 ERA across 10 starts. For the Brewers, Shane Drohan gets the start, boasting a 2-1 record and a 2.87 ERA in 12 games with two starts.
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