Colorado Rockies morning after: Chad Kuhl impressive in home debut

Newly acquired Chad Kuhl wasn’t perfect on the mound for the Colorado Rockies on Monday night but he was darn close.

Kuhl, who joined Colorado on March 16 by signing a one-year Major League contract, allowed just two hits and three baserunners in six scoreless innings in his Rockies home debut to lead the Rox to a 4-1 victory against Philadelphia in the opener of a three-game series at Coors Field.

Charlie Blackmon broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a leadoff 453-foot homer to right field, his first round-tripper of the season, and Randal Grichuk—another recent roster addition—added a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning to help provide enough offensive support to Kuhl’s gem.

Colorado Rockies starter Chad Kuhl permitted just three hitters to reach base in his six innings.

Colorado Rockies starter Chad Kuhl gave up a one-out single to Bryce Harper in the first inning then retired 10 consecutive Philadelphia Phillies hitters before issuing a two-out walk in the fourth. J.T. Realmuto had the other hit, a two-out single in the sixth.

“He pitched great,” Black told media, including Rox Pile, after the game about Kuhl’s 68-pitch performance, which included 42 strikes.

“…that was impressive tonight. I thought he was outstanding. He was in control all night. He mixed his pitches. His arsenal, every pitch was effective. Can’t say much more. It was a great outing. Obviously, he could have went another inning for sure. He was right around 70 pitches.

“He threw close to 80 pitches in Texas,” added Black in reference to Kuhl’s no-decision in his first start of the season April 12 against the Rangers.

Black said he decided to remove Kuhl (1-0) from the game Monday night before the top of the seventh inning when the righthander told his manager of some right hip flexor discomfort.

In his two starts this season with Colorado (7-3), the University of Delaware product now has surrendered just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings for an 0.87 ERA.

No Phillies baserunner reached second base in Kuhl’s six-inning stint, his longest since going 6.0 innings on June 24, 2021, while with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“(I had) really good fastball command,” Kuhl said. “(I) felt like I was getting ahead. I was getting quick outs with the two-seam (fastball). That was probably the story of the night.”

The native of Newark, Delaware, ranks his performance against the Phillies (4-7) as one of his best professional outings, dating back to his Major League debut with the Pirates in 2016. He missed the second half of the 2018 campaign and all of 2019 following Tommy John surgery.

“It’s up there, especially (the) first time pitching here with the purple on,” he said. “it’s really special. It’s definitely in the tops, for sure.”

After Kuhl’s departure, Tyler Kinley worked a hitless seventh inning, throwing 12 of 14 pitches for strikes. Carlos Estévez then was tagged for three hits and a run in the eighth inning before Black called on right-hander Jhoulys Chacín.

With runners on second and third bases and just one out, Chacín snared a line drive off Realmuto’s bat and doubled off the Phillies runner on second base for a double play to end the visitor’s threat.

Alex Colome then tossed a hitless ninth for his first save of the season and first with Colorado.

C.J. Cron and Sam Hilliard each notched a pair of hits and tallied a run with Cron scoring via a wild pitch in the sixth. Charlie Blackmon and leadoff hitter Connor Joe also reached base twice.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. (Mountain time) Tuesday. Kyle Freeland (0-2, 10.00 ERA) is slated to start on the hill for the Rox while Kyle Gibson (1-1, 3.09 ERA) gets the nod for Philadelphia.