Colorado Rockies Come Up Short in San Diego

In game two of a three-game set, the Colorado Rockies fail to come up with timely hitting and lose a tight one, 4-3, to the San Diego Padres.

The Colorado Rockies have now dropped four games in a row, and are only 3-7 in their last 10 games. If you recall, in the middle of May, the Rockies had just come off of a sweep of the New York Mets and were competing aggressively for the top spot in the NL West … and the most inspiring thing about that was that they were seemingly accomplishing their success on the mound. Whatever magic existed for that brief time, it has since faded.

Chad Bettis took to the hill for the good guys last night. Early success, combined with Jorge De La Rosa‘s struggles, quickly established Bettis as the Rockies go-to guy. But, whatever magic was there for Bettis early has since faded as well.

Bettis has frequently been serving up either the “big inning,” or been cursed by the long ball. Last night wasn’t much different as Bettis served up three taters within the first three frames. It’s deflating for fans and teams alike to see your opponent put up runs early and often. There is a silver lining however as Bettis settled in after those first three innings and gave his team a chance to win.

More from Colorado Rockies News

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: 3 things we appreciated from Tuesday in San Francisco
• What Bill Schmidt’s comments mean for the Colorado Rockies in 2023

Trailing 4-3 for a vast majority of the game, the Rockies were due for a rally, and appeared one would come in the eighth. With two outs, and men in scoring position, Rockies top hitter (average-wise) DJ LeMahieu faced off against Padres closer Fernando Rodney. LeMahieu hit a slow roller up the middle and appeared to have chance to reach on an infield single, but was cut down by shortstop Alexei Ramirez.

Rockies fans still had hope however because the heart of the Rockies lineup was due up in the ninth, but then subsequently were put down in order by Rodney who earned a rare four-out save. In total, the Rockies left 11 men on base, so they had plenty of chances to win this game, but just could not get a timely big hit.

Another silver lining in this game is the bullpen. Although Bettis was roughed up early and yielded 10 total hits, the combination of Chad Qualls, Jason Motte, and Miguel Castro blanked the Padres over three frames and surrendered only two hits.

Also on a positive note, Mark Reynolds, and Nick Hundley (who MLB.com had listed as Hundley, C. for some odd reason in the box score) had themselves multi-hit nights for the boys in gray.

Next: Vote Your Rox Into the All-Star Game

Overall, it was the long ball and a lack of clutch hitting that did our squad in. For the rivals, Wil Myers finished only a triple shy of the cycle and terrorized Bettis all night. Rodney, who appeared as damaged goods only a few years ago, has been untouchable this season and shut the door with authority against the heart of Colorado’s lineup.

In Sunday’s finale with San Diego, Rockies right-hander Jon Gray will try to get the squad back into the win column.