Colorado Rockies Drop Series: 3 Moments That Mattered

The Colorado Rockies dropped the third game and the series to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

After winning Tuesday night with a seven-run explosion against San Francisco’s bullpen, Colorado’s bats were silent again on Wednesday, managing only one run in a 5-1 loss.

Here are the moments that tipped the scales in San Francisco against the good guys.

1. Jorge De La Rosa took the mound for the purple team on Wednesday night and the first inning was not the start the Rockies were hoping for.

After getting last night’s nemesis, Angel Pagan, to fly out to start the game, De La Rosa walked Grant Green. Brandon Belt followed the walk with a triple into right field, scoring Green and putting Jorge in a tough situation with Buster Posey coming to the plate.

While DLR was able to strike Posey out, he gave up a two-out hit and RBI to Brandon Crawford, giving the Giants a two-run lead. This isn’t insurmountable by any means … but with the Rockies offense struggling as it has been on this West Coast swing, it was going to be a challenge.

2. The offense missed chances to score

The Rockies were able to string some good at-bats together in the fourth inning against Johnny Cueto, with Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu both knocking singles up the middle to start the inning. Tuesday night’s hero, Nolan Arenado, then narrowly missed more RBI when a drive landed inches outside of the foul line in right field. Nolan was then called out on strikes by home plate umpire Rob Drake on a ball that looked inside.

Cueto then walked all-star Carlos Gonzalez to load the bases for Trevor Story. Story grounded out to third base but hustled up the line, allowing Blackmon to score and gaining the rookie shortstop his 51st RBI.

Daniel Descalso came to the plate with runners on first and third and two outs. Descalso has been red hot for the Rockies this year, going 23-for-61 since returning in early May. However, he was rung up on strikes by Rob Drake on an pitch that also appeared out of the zone.

A rough couple of strikeout calls ruined an otherwise promising inning for the Rockies. It is these kind of tough breaks and bad at-bats that have led to the Rockies recent struggles scoring runs.

3. Buster blasted one

De La Rosa cruised through the middle innings, giving up no runs and compiling five strikeouts, including striking out Belt to start the sixth. Unfortunately, he left a cutter up in the zone to Posey, the Rockies killer, who made him pay by directing the ball deep into the left field seats.

It was Posey’s 11th homer of the year and it gave the Giants a 3-1 lead, to which they were able to add to in the eighth.

De La Rosa threw seven innings and allowed only three runs, but the offense was again unable to take advantage of a quality start from their pitcher.

Summarizing the series

The Rockies finished the six-game road trip losing two out of three to the Giants and accumulating only two runs in the losses. An offensive explosion of seven runs on Tuesday accounted for the Rockies only win in northern California.

Arenado proved further that he is the best third baseman in the league with a clutch three-run homer to give the Rockies the lead and a much-needed win that snapped a six-game skid.

Another highlight from Tuesday’s game was the return of two key parts of the Rockies pitching staff, Tyler Chatwood and Adam Ottavino. Both had promising returns with Chatwood throwing five innings and allowing only one earned run. Ottavino was able to return from the long road following Tommy John surgery and get the only batter he faced. This was a welcome site for Rockies fans and baseball fans. Returning from this surgery is such a testament to the world of medicine, rehabilitation and the strength of Adam’s spirit.

Next: Recapping an Eventful Week for the Rockies

Looking ahead

The Colorado Rockies have a quick turnaround, playing in Denver against the Philadelphia Phillies Thursday night after a very late return trip from San Francisco. Chad Bettis will get the ball for the Rockies against Adam Morgan, who is making a spot start for the Phillies.

Reminder

Don’t forget about #StoryTime and vote for Trevor Story by texting N5 to 89269 and also add A5 to get George Springer from the Astros in. These are two of the most electric young players in the game.

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