Colorado Rockies Drop Game Two in Bean Town

The Colorado Rockies solve the knuckleball early, but lose 10-3 to Red Sox as pitching falters in Boston.

Rockies starter Chad Bettis came out mowing down Boston hitters through the first two frames. However, it all changed in the third inning when Ryan Hanigan hit what appeared to hit a home run which had wrapped itself around the right field pole. If you know anything about Fenway, you know its only about 300 feet down the line. Hanigan maybe hit it 305 feet but, after a lengthy review, the home run was negated and called a foul ball.

But somehow the Hanigan play served as a catalyst, and the Red Sox offense caught fire from there. The BoSox chased Bettis fairly quickly and, although Bettis has established himself as the Rock of the Rockies rotation as of late, tonight was not a solid night at all for the righty.

After zooming through the first few frames, Bettis seemingly dealt with traffic all night. Tonight, Rockies fans saw the 2014 version of Chad Bettis, who gave up seven runs and seven hits in 4.2 innings.

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As for the catcher Hanigan, he and Steven Wright never appeared on the same page … or at least Hanigan had a lot of trouble trying to handle Wright’s knuckleball, which to no fault of his own was especially wild tonight. To the Rockies’ credit, they took advantage of the wildness as they took extra bases, got clutch hits, and established an early lead, grabbing a 2-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth.

It appeared as if the Rockies were content with their lead and were were willing to lean on pitching to carry them to victory. Once the lead was erased with a four-run fourth and significant deficit became the reality, the Rockies offense was seemingly unwilling to compete.

The Rockies got to Wright early, but then Boston showed what a winning culture is all about. Once given the lead, Wright and company settled in, grinding out every out and maintaining their composure. That’s something the Rockies can look up and learn from. Although it was yet another lopsided loss to the Red Sox, there were some positives to take from the contest.

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First, it appears Carlos Gonzalez has arisen from his slump. CarGo led the club with three hits, and although they weren’t for extra bases, CarGo hitting the ball through holes is good to see.

Second, Jason Motte had his Colorado Rockies debut after being activated earlier in the day and threw a scoreless frame. Motte will be a key part of the revamped Rockies bullpen as the team prepares to finish the nine-game road trip with the series finale in Boston on Thursday.