Colorado Rockies: Four Things from Loss to Reds

After claiming the series opener on Monday night, the Colorado Rockies were downed by the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The Rockies’ loss sets up a Wednesday matinee rubber match between the two clubs to decide the series.

During the game, there were some good and not-so-good things that happened to the Colorado Rockies. Here’s our look at four things that stood out during the contest.

Do you agree or disagree with our picks? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Two good things

The defense and flexibility of Mark Reynolds — Nolan Arenado often gets a lot of credit for the defensive plays he makes on a nightly basis. On Tuesday night, it was Reynolds who saved an Arenado throw from turning into an error.

With Brandon Phillips standing on third base and the Reds threatening to add to their lead, Devin Mesoraco hit a ball down the third-base line that Arenado fielded in foul territory. The Colorado All-Star third baseman threw the ball to first while flying through foul territory … and the throw was heading wide of first base. Reynolds did the splits on the foul side of first base, grabbing the ball while keeping his foot on the bag to get Mesoraco out and end the inning.

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In my books, it’s definitely one of the early front-runners for Colorado’s Defensive Play of the Month.

We’ll also give Reynolds points for his ninth-inning, two-out, two-run blast over the center field wall that pulled the Rockies within 4-3. It was his first homer as a member of the Colorado Rockies.

Chris Rusin in relief — Since a devastating first appearance of the season when he gave up three runs in 1.1 innings to the San Diego Padres, Rusin has been lights out for the Rockies.

After Jorge De La Rosa was chased following just two innings of work on Tuesday night, Rusin came in and threw four shutout innings, allowing just two hits and dropping his ERA to 3.52 on the season.

Over his last two outings, Rusin has thrown 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just two hits and walking no one.

Two bad things

Colorado’s top five hitters in the lineup — It’s hard to score many runs when your top hitters are consistently held in check. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday night.

DJ LeMahieu, Trevor Story, Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, and Gerardo Parra combined to go 1-for-20, with the lone hit being Parra’s ninth-inning, two-out bunt single. Ouch.

The Rockies mustered just five hits on the night, with four of them coming off the bats of Ben Paulsen and Reynolds.

Stolen bases off De La Rosa — The Reds made a concerted effort to get into the head of Colorado’s all-time winningest pitcher early in the game and the strategy paid off in a big way.

Cincinnati stole five bases in the second inning, marking the first time that the Reds had swiped five bases in a single inning since the 1920s, according to Elias Sports Bureau. It was also the most stolen bases the Rockies had ever given up in a single inning. Jay Bruce stole second and third in the inning.

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The Reds scored four times in the frame and sent nine men to the plate in the frame. The outburst would spell the end for De La Rosa, who lasted just two innings, giving up six hits, five stolen bases, and four runs. The effort ballooned the southpaw’s ERA to 9.87 on the year.