Colorado Rockies: Third time through lineup again dooms Jon Gray

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Stop me if you ha€™ve heard this one before. The Colorado Rockies got a strong start from Jon Gray but saw a big inning against the right-hander eventually became the team€’s undoing on its way to a loss.

Yes, you heard it the last time Gray pitched … and in the season-opener in Arizona. You will hear it again today after the Washington Nationals snapped Colorado’€™s three-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory in our nation€’s capital.

As I was talking to Nationals fans before the game, their common complaint was that the Washington offense was mired in a funk. Eleven runs over the last five games will draw that kind of response from fans of any Major League team.

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But there seems to be a tonic for those issues … batting against Gray when you’€™ve already faced him twice in the game.

Heading into Saturday’€™s contest, check out the slash line this season for batters who are seeing Gray for the third time: .429/.529/.714 with a 1.244 OPS. On Saturday, Washington’€™s lineup did its damage the third time through, going 5-for-6 with four runs scored. A 2-1 deficit quickly ballooned to a 5-2 lead.

"“I can’t stress how frustrating it is to go out there and cruise and let it all go to waste,” a visibly agitated Gray told Rox Pile and other media members after the game. “I can be good 95 percent of the time but if you’re not good 5 percent of the time, it doesn’t matter, I guess. I have to find a way to be good right there.”"

While that deficit was nothing that couldn’€™t be overcome, against a pitcher like Max Scherzer, it quickly becomes a Herculean task. That’s the same Scherzer who struck out 11 Rockies on Saturday, the 67th time in his career he has struck out 10 or more batters in an outing.

A first-inning walk by Gerardo Parra and a Charlie Blackmon homer on the second pitch he saw from Scherzer. That was the only damage and those were the only baserunners of the first seven innings for the Rockies. After Blackmon’€™s home run, Colorado saw its next 20 consecutive batters retired.

Twenty batters. In a row. Colorado started with a bang but ended with a whimper against the defending Cy Young winner.

But back to Gray. Saturday’€™s outing looked very similar to his last start at Coors Field against the San Diego Padres on April 9. A strong start but a pitcher€’s (Clayton Richard) home run was part of a five-run fourth inning that spelled the end for Gray and Colorado’€™s chances of winning that game.

After Saturday’s sixth-inning demise, Gray is now 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA. Something has to get right quickly.

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Colorado was in a position to win on Saturday. However, two runs and one hit is usually not enough to make that happen. It was a case of an ace getting the better of a pitcher who is working to become an ace … but still has a ways to go.

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