Colorado Rockies Lose Ugly, 7-6 to the Phillies on Sunday

The suddenly stumbling Colorado Rockies were in Philadelphia today to finish up a series with the Phillies. The Rockies have fallen in the first two games of the series and turned to Tyler Chatwood looking to find a way to avoid being swept. Adam Morgan took the mound for the Phillies in what turned out to be an ugly game for both teams, unfortunately a more ugly game for the Rockies.

They ended up losing their third straight game by a score of 7-6. Here is what happened:

1. Fallen Road Warrior: Tyler Chatwood has been stellar away from Coors Field for the Colorado Rockies in 2016. Coming into Sunday, his ERA in nine road starts was a miniscule 1.30. That number will take a hit today as Chatwood was not able to make it through the fifth inning giving up six runs (four earned) and allowing six hits and five walks.

He started the fifth inning by walking Cameron Rupp and giving up two straight singles. At this point Rockies trainer Keith Dugger

came out to check on Tyler, but returned to the dugout after Chatwood threw one practice pitch and appeared fine. Jimmy Paredes was the next hitter and doubled to give the Phillies a 5-3 lead at which point Chatwood was lifted in favor of Jordan Lyles. No word on whether Chatwood was taken out of the game secondary to injury or to ineffectiveness, he appeared fine in the dugout after just frustrated with his poor performance.

1. Ugly Baseball: The Rockies really did not deserve to win this game. It was filled with mistakes both offensively and defensively. They had four errors, which included two by Nolan Arenado. After playing flawlessly the whole first half of the season he now has seven errors in his past 20 games. Ryan Raburn and Daniel Descalso made some lackluster plays at first base screaming for the Rockies to figure something else out with Mark Reynolds on the DL.

Gerardo Parra continued to struggle since his return from the disabled list today, he was 1-5 today but left five runners on base including a harmless pop-up to end the game after the Rockies had climbed back within one run and had David Dahl on third base. His struggles extended into the field today with a mental mistake when he threw to third instead of home where he had a good opportunity to eliminate a Philadelphia run. He is now hitting .185 with no walks, seven strikeouts and only one RBI since returning to the Rockies last Sunday.

1. Charlie Blackmon: Chuck has been one of the only bright spots for the Rockies this series. Today he was 3-5 with two solo home runs and one double. His home runs came after hitting three on Friday and gives him five for the series and probably will earn him player of the week honors. His double included an awesome slide into second where he pulled his front leg back to avoid the tag and got in safe despite the throwing beating him to the base.

Charlie has raised his average from .296 to .321 since July 28. To solidify his case to Coors Field haters, Blackmon’s average on the road is now .319 compared to .322 at home, a picture of consistency.

Next: Colorado Rockies: 3 Random Thoughts on a Saturday

The Rockies continue to fight back which is good to see. Today they were able score two in ninth and were close to tying the game. I don’t think we are looking at a team that has called it quits, just one that is playing beyond poorly. There is no chance to regroup, they welcome two of the best teams in the National League in the Nationals and then the Cubs to Coors Field this week.