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

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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