Tyler Chatwood Takes Blame for Colorado’s 7-2 Defeat

Tyler Chatwood has proven already this season that his twice-repaired arm is in good condition. After the Colorado Rockies were beaten by the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night, Chatwood showed that his shoulders are in pretty good shape as well.

Chatwood allowed five runs in six innings, including giving up a pair of two-out, two-run homers as the Giants opened a three-game series at Coors Field with a 7-2 decision over the Rockies.

Hunter Pence broke open a tight game in the fifth by blasting a two-run shot to left-center field and Trevor Brown followed in the sixth with a two-run round-tripper to left to extend the San Francisco lead to 5-1.

Chatwood, who entered the game with a 1.42 ERA, surrendered 11 hits and five runs in his six innings of work. After the game, he shouldered the blame for the loss.

“Trying to keep them off balance was the biggest thing,” Chatwood said. “That’s a pretty good lineup over there. I was just trying to throw every pitch and make it count. I thought everything was good except for those two pitches (to Pence and Brown). They hit those balls out. Those were the things that killed me and cost us the game.”

Colorado manager Walt Weiss said after the game that he liked Tyler Chatwood’s effort.

“I thought Chatty threw the ball well,” Weiss said. “A couple of two-run homers but he certainly kept us in the game and gave us a chance. We just couldn’t get anything going against (San Francisco Giants starter Jeff) Samardzija.”

Samardzija would handcuff the Colorado offense, scattering eight hits over eight innings to earn his first win of the season. He also struck out Trevor Story three times, temporarily slowing MLB’s leader in homers and RBI heading into the night.

Still it was Colorado’s inability to finish innings that would ultimately spell doom for the Rockies.

“When you get a couple of outs, you want to go ahead and put the inning down, but they’re notorious for two-strike hits and two-out runs,” Weiss said. “They battle and they’ve done that well for years.”

Chatwood was visibly disappointed after the game but also knows it’s a step on the path back from his second Tommy John surgery.

“I feel like I’m in a good spot,” Chatwood said. “I thought I threw OK except for those two pitches. I just have to build on that going forward. The biggest thing is that those two pitches cost us the game. That’s the hardest thing to swallow, but I have to build off of it and go forward.”

Next: Trevor Story Reflects on Historic First Week

Notes

⇒ Charlie Blackmon, Story, and Carlos Gonzalez, the top three hitters in the Colorado order, went a combined 2-for-12 on Tuesday night.

⇒ Colorado had seven hits on the night, all of them by different players and all of them going for singles.

⇒ Jason Gurka pitched the final three innings for the Rockies and gave up a two-run homer to Brown as well. His ERA now stands at 10.57 this season.

⇒ DJ LeMahieu stole third in the third inning. The one-out swipe was his first stolen base of the season and gave the Rockies a golden opportunity to snap a 1-1 tie. However, Story struck out and Gonzalez grounded out to second to squelch the chance.