Colorado Rockies Stung By Epic Late Meltdown

By Kevin Henry | Apr 24, 2016

Apr 22, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jake McGee (51) pitches in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Hey Colorado Rockies fans, pick a storyline, any storyline from the Rockies’ 12-10 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. It’s only fitting playing a team located 15 minutes from Hollywood that there were plenty of storylines from which to choose.

Option A would be the first part of the game that saw the Dodgers jump out to a 7-1 lead and chase Colorado starting pitcher Jordan Lyles in the top of the third. Another day, another Los Angeles early outburst against the Rockies starting pitcher, this time it was Lyles who was the victim, giving up seven runs (five earned) on five hits in just 2.2 innings of work. Lyles also walked five Dodgers, with just 36 of his 65 pitches going for strikes.

“For whatever reason, the command has gotten away from Jordan in all but one start (his last start in Cincinnati which lasted seven innings). That really hasn’t been an issue in the past. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of that,” said an obviously frustrated Colorado manager Walt Weiss after the game.

“I’m not sure where to point the finger delivery-wise,” Lyles said. “Too many missed fastballs right off the plate. Some are uncontested. Too many walks in the first inning. I walked three guys. It’s unacceptable. It’s tough especially after the outing I had last time. I thought Chris (Rusin) deserves a lot of credit for what he did today.”

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Which brings us to Option B, the part of the game where Colorado relievers Rusin, Justin Miller, and Boone Logan combined to throw 5.1 innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball as the Rockies roared back to take a 10-7 lead with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Part of the eighth-inning comeback included Carlos Gonzalez beating the Dodgers’ shift with a seeing-eye single that snuck between the first and second baseman and an error by Yasiel Puig in right field after his defense had completely vexed the Rockies throughout the first two-plus games of the series. Everything seemed to be going Colorado’s way.

But then came Option C, a ninth-inning meltdown of epic proportions by Colorado closer Jake McGee, who picked up the save in Friday night’s win over the Dodgers and had been perfect in save situations entering the game. The key phrase there is “had been.”

After watching the Rockies put up five runs in the bottom of the eighth, Los Angeles put up a five-spot of their own in the top of the ninth against McGee. In just two-thirds of an inning, McGee allowed five runs on five hits and walked two Dodgers, part of a 10-walk performance by Colorado pitchers on the day.

“It’s not easy but, at the same time, I’ve got to get ahead of hitters. I can’t let them get into hitters’ counts and look over the plate more,” McGee said. “I’ve just got to bear down a little more. Those things kind of happen in certain games, but everything happened at once.”

McGee was asked after the game how he planned to bounce back from the loss.

“Amnesia,” he said. “Things happen and every game is different. As long as I’m consistent game-in and game out and bounce back from this, it’s OK. This happens to a lot of relievers so I just have to bounce back.”

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Sitting at 9-9 on the young season, Sunday’s stunning collapse is by no means the beginning of the end of the Rockies’ season. However, there’s no question that it was also a game the Colorado Rockies believed they should’ve won and one that will sting for some time.

“It’s a tough one,” Weiss said. “We’re thinking we’re going to win that game. We scored five in the eighth and battled back from 7-1 early. We kept chipping away and put ourselves in a position to win that game late. I figured we (would win) after we scored five in the eighth.”

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