Rockies vs. Astros: Rox Drop Both Games in Mexico

The Rundown

Coming off of an exciting series split against the Padres, the Rockies headed south to face the Astros in Major League Baseball’s Mexico City Series. Cal Quantrill would take the hill against Ronel Blanco, who was jumped early by a Ryan McMahon home run. Houston would answer with one in the second and three in the third on home runs by Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. Quantrill’s good stretch of starts ultimately ended as two more runs in the sixth would chase him from the game. McMahon’s home run would be all Blanco would give up, pitching into the sixth inning before handing the ball over to the bullpen. Down 6-2, Jalen Beeks held the line for two innings, but Victor Vodnik would struggle, and Tyler Kinley imploded to put the Rox in a 10-run hole. The Rockies would squeak across two runs in the bottom of the ninth on Charlie Blackmon and Elehuris Montero singles, but it fell far short as the Rockies dropped game one by a score of 12-4.

Game two got off to a much more competitive start, as the Rox matched Houston's two-run first inning with two runs of their own thanks to Sean Bouchard and Jacob Stallings RBIs. Austin Gomber would give up a run in both the third and fourth innings, putting the Rox in a 4-2 hole. Gomber would continue to battle, making it through seven innings despite the early inning runs. Jake Bird came in relief of Gomber and promptly gave up four runs while only being able to record two outs, putting the Rockies at an 8-2 deficit. Offensively, Framber Valdez held the Rockies at bay until giving way to his well-rested and scary bullpen, who mowed through the last four innings, sending the Rockies home with a winless trip to Mexico City. 

Coors Crown: Nolan Jones

There weren’t many standouts from a two-game series where the Rockies were swept in fairly uncompetitive fashion. I’ll give the nod to Nolan Jones. It’s been a tough year for Jones thus far, hitting only .170 with a single home run. With sky high expectations coming into the year, it’s been disappointing for Jones and Rockies fans to say the least. However, Jones turned in a nice little series, hitting .500 (3-6) including going 2-4 with a walk on Saturday. The numbers are still going to take a while to recover, but hopefully a good couple of games can provide a moral victory and begin to turn Jones’ season around.

Rockiest Rocky: Jake Bird

The pitching was really rough in these two games. While Tyler Kinley had a very similar, if not worse, stat line as Bird, Kinley was pitching in a six-run game. Bird has been fairly solid thus far, so down by only two runs Bud Black called on the right hander to keep them in the game and give the Rox a chance to rally in their last two at bats. Instead, the wheels fell off for Bird, who gave up four runs in just 0.2 innings of work. By the time the book closed on Bird, it was an 8-2 ballgame, and any chances of a rally were seemingly lost. This Rockies bullpen has been incredibly inconsistent, likely contributing to their poor start. If this season is to turn around, Jake Bird and the bullpen will have to turn in better outings and keep things from spiraling in close games. 

Stat Pack

Offensive Highlights: 

Sean Bouchard: 1-3, 1 RBI, (series); .286 AVG, 1 RBI, .804 OPS(season totals)

Ryan McMahon: 2-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI; .308 AVG, 4 HR, .859 OPS

Brenton Doyle: 2-8, 2 R; .323 AVG, 18 R, .873 OPS

Pitching Highlights: 

Austin Gomber: 7 IP, 4 ER, 2 K (series); 4.50 ERA, 32 IP, 22 K (season totals)

Nick Mears: 1.1 IP, 0 ER; 4.50 ERA, 12 IP, 13 K

Cal Quantrill: 5 IP, 6 ER, 2 K; 5.34 ERA, 32 IP, 17 K

Jalen Beeks: 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 K; 1.93 ERA, 14 IP, 9 K

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