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Rockies vs. D-Backs: Rox drop 2 close games in an entertaining series loss

Regardless of the outcomes, the squad was competitive.

By Ian Slate |
Arizona Diamondbacks v Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks v Colorado Rockies / Justin Edmonds/GettyImages
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The Rundown

After a tough series loss against the Rays, the Rockies hoped to get some revenge on the Diamondbacks in their second series of the season. Game one of the series featured a battle of aces as Kyle Freeland faced off against Zac Gallen in front of the Coors faithful. Things looked bleak for the Rockies as the D-Backs put up a four spot in the fourth aided by a Ryan McMahon error, but a pair of Kris Bryant and Nolan Jones singles answered in the bottom of the inning to get them within one. The Rockies kept the momentum going and rallied in the sixth, putting up three more runs to take the lead into the late innings. A Chuck Nazty solo shot in the eighth would be all the insurance Colorado needed, as Freeland and Peter Lambert turned in good outings and Jake Bird was able to record the one-out save after Nick Mears struggled in the ninth. The Rox tallied a season 13 hits in the win, with four batters recording a multi-hit game.

Unfortunately, the series would shake out pretty similarly to the Rays series, as Colorado dropped two close matchups to end the series. Game two was a low scoring affair with Cal Quantrill and Merrill Kelly taking the hill, but the three runs Quantrill gave up in the first two innings proved to be too much for the Rox to overcome. Quantrill settled down and gave the Rockies a quality start before handing the ball off to Victor Vodnik, Tyler Kinley, and Jalen Beeks. The Rockies mustered up only two runs and scattered eight hits to ultimately drop the ballgame by a score of 3-2.

Game three started with both teams trading first inning runs off of Austin Gomber and Tommy Henry, with the Rockies run being plated from a beautiful piece of two strike hitting from Elehuris Montero. Colorado scored two more in the fourth on Michael Toglia’s third home run of the season, a two run blast to dead center. After Arizona tied the game in the seventh, they entered the ninth in a tie ballgame. Justin Lawrence came on to get the Rox to their half of the inning and relinquished two runs on a pair of walks and an Eugenio Suarez double that fell just out of the reach of an outstretched Nolan Jones. Kevin Ginkel closed the door on the Rockies for the second time of the series and the Rox fell to 3-10 to start the year. 

The Positives

The starting pitching was really good this series. After an incredibly rough start to the season, Rockies starters went 17 innings and only seven earned runs this series for a collective ERA of 3.70. For Kyle Freeland and Cal Quantrill who have endured two tough starts each to start their respective season as the assumed top pitchers in the rotation, putting together solid outings must be a relief, especially at home.

Victor Vodnik had another clean inning, raising his scoreless inning streak to 8.2 to start the season. Along with Peter Lambert’s two scoreless innings in the Monday win, Vodnik and Lambert have provided quality appearances with multi-inning length if needed.

Ryan McMahon continues to rake, with three hits in game one of the series and three walks in the finale. Brenton Doyle had three hits in the series and has looked like more than just a defensive specialist to start the season. Having a solid offensive catcher is a rare blessing in today’s MLB, and Elias Diaz just so happens to be one of those guys. With three more hits in the series, he raised his batting average to .324 on the year.

The Negatives

Nolan Jones, where are you? A 1-12 performance and rough start to the season has the Rockies brightest bright spot dropping in the batting order and to a .157 average to begin the season. Kris Bryant had only one hit on the series, bringing his average to an .100 with a .409 OPS.

Jake Bird gave up the lead in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game that ultimately ended up costing the Rockies the game and series win. Bird has been up and down so far this season with a 5.83 ERA in eight innings pitched.  The bullpen continues to struggle at finishing the job.

Coors Crown: Ezequiel Tovar

This one feels nice to write. There’s been such high hope for Tovar in his young career and glimpses of greatness across a solid rookie campaign. He has looked awesome this season, and these three games may have been his best work yet. Tovar went 7-14 for an even .500 batting average while continuing to play stellar defense. Tovar gave the D-Backs nightmares and was the toughest out of the series. He raised his season average to .333 and his OPS to a fantastic .938. The sky's the limit for this kid, and this series was a performance worthy of the crown.

Rockiest Rocky: Justin Lawrence (2)

Here we go again. Tie game, top nine, three outs from our closer to give the offense a chance to walk it off and send everyone home happy with the first series win of the year. Two walks and a bloop double later and the Rockies are down 5-3.

Yes, it feels mean to give it to Lawrence after Suarez stuck his bat out and dropped one directly down the left field line, but it's the walks that got him into this situation. Lawrence has filthy stuff, but his command has looked shaky all year. Through 4.2 this season, Lawrence has an ERA of 11.57 with only one more strikeout (5) than walks (4). Opponents are hitting .350 off of him, which is disheartening for a Rockies team that was hoping he would hold down the ninth inning this season. 

Stat Pack

Offensive Highlights: 

Michael Toglia: 1-4, 1 HR (series); .160 AVG, 3 HR (season totals)

Brendan Rodgers: 3-12; .174 AVG, 3 2B

Ryan McMahon: 4-11, 3 BB; .383 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI

Elias Diaz: 3-7; .324 AVG; 1 HR, 6 RBI

Pitching Highlights: 

Kyle Freeland: 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 K  (series); 16.03 ERA, 10.2 IP, 6 K (season totals)

Peter Lambert: 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 W; 2-0 W/L, 2.57 ERA, 5 K

Cal Quantrill: 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 K; 7.20 ERA, 15 IP, 10 K

Austin Gomber: 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 K; 4.91 ERA, 14.2 IP, 14 K

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