Colorado Rockies: Uninspired and Listless in Loss to Reds

In May, Tyler Chatwood earned the title of most reliable starter for the Colorado Rockies. On Wednesday night at Coors Field, however, the Cincinnati Reds showed that a different month can bring completely different results, even for the most reliable of the Rockies.

On the first day of June, Chatwood struggled from the game’s opening pitch, surrendering four runs in the first two innings as the Reds jumped out to a quick lead and were never threatened in a 7-2 win over Colorado.

One night after the team could seemingly do no wrong in a 17-4 bludgeoning of the Reds, the Rockies looked uninspired and listless before a crowd of 23,612 that had little to cheer about.

Chatwood entered Wednesday night with a 4-1 mark and 2.23 over his last five starts. However, the right-hander’s control wasn’t there and made the early portions of the game extremely tough. After walking just nine batters in May, Chatwood walked three Reds in the first three innings.

Early on, it was evident that Chatwood didn’t have his best stuff. He gave up a single to Zack Cozart on the first pitch followed by a double to Billy Hamilton. With runners at second and third and no outs, Chatwood locked in and did some of his best work of the night. A groundout by Joey Votto scored Cozart, but a strikeout and diving grab by Charlie Blackmon ended the threat and kept the Reds lead at 1-0.

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Following his power surge on Tuesday night, Blackmon would once again serve as the Rockies’ catalyst early on, driving a single to left to extend his on-base streak to 27 consecutive games, the longest of his career. Up next, DJ LeMahieu smacked a 2-2 pitch into the right-center gap for a double, plating Blackmon and knotting the game at 1-1.

Cincinnati came back with a vengeance in the top of the second, sending eight men to the plate. Thanks to his head-shaking speed, Billy Hamilton turned a seemingly innocent grounder up the middle into a two-run double, highlighting a three-run burst that handed the Reds a 4-1 edge.

Cincinnati’s lead would be extended to 5-1 in the top of the sixth. Eugenio Suarez opened the frame with a single but advanced to second on a sloppy play by Carlos Gonzalez in the outfield. CarGo’s error would haunt the Rockies as Suarez scored on Ramon Cabrera’s bloop single just over the head of Trevor Story.

That would signal the end of the night for Chatwood, who gave up eight hits and four earned runs during his 100-pitch outing. He matched his season-high in walks with three but struck out five, including two in his final inning of work.

The outing also continued Chatwood’s strange home-away split. On the road this season, Chatwood (4-0, 0.53) is the only MLB pitcher with an ERA below 1.00. At Coors Field, he’s now 2-4 with a 5.37 ERA.

Even when things seemed to be going well for the Rockies on Wednesday night, the Reds would somehow find a way to spoil the moment. Such was the case with Jorge De La Rosa’s second stint out of the bullpen this season.

De La Rosa, trying to rediscover his stride by being moved to the bullpen, coasted through his first inning of work, striking out two of the three batters he faced. However, the first batter of the next frame, Jay Bruce, belted a 2-2 fastball from De La Rosa over the Bridich Barrier to expand the Cincinnati advantage to 6-1.

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While Colorado pitchers were struggling, the Rockies were making Reds starter John Lamb look like a Cy Young Award candidate. Entering the game with an 0-3 record and 6.85 ERA, Lamb held Colorado to one run and six hits over seven innings.

The Colorado Rockies will look to split the four-game series in the season finale with the Reds on Thursday night at Coors Field.

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