Rockies Fall Short

“It’s like deja vu all over again.” said the great Yogi Berra. Yogi can never be quoted enough.

Last night saw a Colorado Rockies rematch from five days ago. Not only same the same team in the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the same pitching matchup as well. Once again Jorge De La Rosa (2-1)  pitched against Trevor Cahill (0-3). Last Saturday the Rockies won 4-3 with De La Rosa pitching six scoreless innings.

Tulowitzki. Image: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

De La Rosa’s scoreless innings streak lasted 18 innings before day one call-up and starting third baseman Ryan Wheeler committed a throwing error in the bottom of the second to put Paul Goldschmidt on first base. Goldschmidt later scored after two consecutive singles by Cody Ross and Wil Nieves.

It would be another unearned run that gave the Rockies a tie in the fourth inning. Michael Cuddyer doubled to set the table for Diamondback mistakes. Cahill would allow Cuddyer to advance to third on a wild pitch where he would then score on a Martin Prado throwing error.

A fresh start for the Rockies in a newly tied game could mean only one thing: immediately give up a home run. Again it was Goldschmidt who had been 0-2 in his career against De La Rosa coming into the game. With Prado on second after a single and wild pitch, Goldschmidt would knock a pitch over the left field fence, high off the foul pole, to give Arizona a 3-1 lead.

The Rockies would score one more frustrating run in the seventh inning. The top of the order, Eric Young Jr., led off with a double to right field. He was followed by the Rockies cream of the crop: Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez, and Troy Tulowitzki. Set up just the way you would want after Wednesday’s ninth inning comeback and twelfth inning win against the Braves. Yesterday did not pan out the same way. Following EY2’s double both Dex and Cargo struck out. Tulo did drive in the run with a two out double, but it would be the the games last. 3-2 final Diamondbacks on top. The lack of good team hitting from the Rockies lineup and fairly good pitching from the Diamondbacks has not been typical of the season so far.

Positives from last night

1. Although D-backs starter Trevor Cahill only gave up one run (unearned), he was not economical with his pitches at all. In five innings of work Cahill threw a total of 105 pitches. The Rockies did work four hits and four walks off him, insinuating that they had quality at bats last night.

2. Wilton Lopez has been horrible. Last night he faced four batters and gave up one hit. On the bright side for someone that has struggled, Lopez threw first pitch strikes to each batter he faced and retired the side on 13 pitches.

3. De La Rosa was credited with the loss. He didn’t pitch like he deserved it. Seven hits and three walks could have easily led to more offense than he gave up. He managed to keep out of trouble by inducing three double plays.

Let’s remember that, even in a loss, we can still see improvement over last year’s team.