Colorado Rockies morning after: Don't just blame one thing for loss

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DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 7: Jon Gray #55 of the Colorado Rockies reacts angrily after the end of the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on September 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

The Los Angeles Dodgers came to Coors Field on Friday night for what has been billed as an epic showdown between two of the three contenders for the National League West crown. Holding a 1.5-game lead in the division, the Colorado Rockies braced for impact in just the latest series in a line of “the biggest series of the season.”

The Dodgers are an old nemesis but it was a different Colorado Rockies foe that made an appearance at 20^thand Blake early on Friday night.

On a night when Jon Gray didn’t have anywhere close to his best stuff and All-Star Nolan Arenado kept scuffling through arguably the worst slump of his career, it ended up being a call made two time zones away that made one of the biggest impacts on Friday night. Notice I put, “one of” in there. The call hurt Colorado’s chances … but it didn’t doom them to the loss.

Let’s talk about the call and then about the offense.

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Argue about what effect Arenado’s sore shoulder has on his swing or not, but Arenado told me after the game it didn’t play a role in an errant throw he made in the top of the fifth inning. Backing up to field a bounding ball off the bat of pinch hitter Alex Verdugo, Arenado heaved a wide toss that forced Ian Desmond to use every bit of his 6-foot-3 frame to not only catch but try to keep his toe on the bag.

On the play, Max Muncy scored from second, putting the Dodgers up 3-2 … or not?

Initially Verdugo was ruled safe. Slow motion replays appeared to show Desmond kept a toe on the bag while catching Arenado’s heave. MLB replay officials in New York didn’t see it that way, keeping Muncy as scoring the go-ahead run and Verdugo at first, much to the dismay of the Colorado portion of the 41,547 fans in attendance.

The next batter, Yasiel Puig, singled into right field, plating Enrique Hernandez and extending the Dodger lead to 4-2.

It capped a weird and pivotal fifth frame. Chris Rusin opened the inning with eight straight balls to put Manny Machado and Muncy on, then was called for a balk to move the Dodgers runners over one base. The balk was questioned by Rusin, catcher Drew Butera and manager Bud Black, who eventually was ejected by home plate umpire Andy Fletcher. It was Black’s second toss of the season.

Oh … and we haven’t even talked about an amazing play by Trevor Story, who fielded a grounder from Hernandez deep in the hole and fire a strike to Butera to nail Machado at the plate and temporarily keep the Rockies and Dodgers deadlocked. When talk of Story’s potential Gold Glove is discussed, rest assured that this play will be referenced.

Two walks. A balk. An ejection. A stellar defensive play. An error by the game’s best third baseman that didn’t look like an error on replay. The go-ahead run. A single. An insurance run.

Welcome to September baseball, it seems. It’s not always about just the best players but also sometimes the questionable calls that turn a game one way or the other.

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DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 7: Matt Holliday #7 of the Colorado Rockies follows the flight of a second inning solo homerun off of Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on September 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Was that all that caused the Rockies to drop Friday night’s affair and see their division lead shrink? Hardly. Gray issued five walks in four innings and Rusin showed he still is nowhere near the pitcher in 2018 he was in 2017. And arguably the most productive batter of the night? That would be Butera, who came in hitting .184 but went 2-for-2 with an RBI in his first two plate appearances against Kershaw.

And let’s not forget about the baseball gods making an appearance again in the seventh inning as reliever Seunghwan Oh deflected what looked to be a double play ball from Hernandez away from DJ LeMahieu and into right field for a base hit, sending Cody Bellinger to third on the play. The double play, however, happened on the next play as Austin Barnes struck out and Bellinger was caught trying to steal home on a double steal on a smart play by Butera and the Rockies infield.

The baseball gods giveth … and don’t cause calls to be overturned on replay. They’re fickle and, like Puig, not our friend … at least on Friday night.

But again, don’t just blame one bad inning or bad hops for Friday night’s loss. The Rockies didn’t take advantages of scoring opportunities when they presented themselves. Five times in nine innings, the Rockies had the leadoff man reach base. The only time that batter scored was in the second inning … and that was because Holliday smacked a home run to knock himself in. Colorado left the bases loaded in the seventh and a leadoff double by Holliday in the eighth was wasted.

Colorado finished the night 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Gripe about the strike zone, call and shake your fist toward New York, but the Rockies didn’t get the hit when they needed to get it. That’s been a familiar refrain during Colorado’s losses in recent weeks.

“I thought we got some guys on. It’s a competition between pitcher and hitter. That’s the beauty of this game,” Black said. “It happens. When the game is tight, when the game is close, it comes down to those confrontations. Tonight, a couple of different at-bats, they won.”

Black likes to often quip, “That’s baseball.” It can apply to many situations over the course of a season … or even a single game like Friday night.

The Rockies had their chances and didn’t capitalize. It doesn’t mean the season is over or the Dodgers are charging. When the sun came up this morning, the Rockies were still in first place in the National League West. They will be tonight when they take the field with Colorado’s Kyle Freeland squaring off against Walker Buehler.

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Colorado will have their chances to win on Saturday night. Here’s hoping the baseball gods smile on them.

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Colorado Rockies morning after: Don’t just blame one thing for loss

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