Rockies Rally, But Come Up Short in 6-5 Loss To Marlins
A six run lead after the first two innings proved to be too much of a deficit for the Colorado Rockies (45-73) to recover from, as their late inning scoring left them just short in a 6-5 loss to the Miami Marlins (55-66) last night in Denver. The final game of the series is this afternoon at 1:10 at Coors Field (TV: Root Sports).
The game opened poorly for Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood, who gave up three singles to the first three hitters. After retiring Carlos Lee, he challenged slugger Giancarlo Stanton with a fastball, but couldn't spin around quick enough to see it disappear 448 feet into the left-field concourse before bouncing out of the park and into the players' parking lot. The Herculean homer was Stanton's sixth in six consecutive games at Coors Field, setting a record for a visiting player at the Rockies' home, along with a Major League record as the first player to ever hit a home run in each of his first six games in a single ballpark.
Though Chatwood struggled to keep his pitches down in the first two innings, the pitch to Stanton was the one he wanted to throw.
"It was actually a good pitch, in off the plate," Chatwood said. "I was trying to go there, and he put a good swing on it."
The 22-year-old right-hander might have had a good thought behind his pitch, but the 22-year-old slugger at the plate got the best of him when it came to outthinking each other.
The Rockies went gently in a 1-2-3 first, then watched as the Marlins added on in the second on a rally sparked by starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and capped by a two-out, two-run triple to left-center from Jose Reyes.
Chatwood got through his remaining 2 1/3 innings without further damage, but the 6-0 hole he dug for the Rockies before four-hole hitter Michael Cuddyer got his first licks was too much to overcome. The Rockies have needed six runs to win five of their last six games, and have risen to the challenge three times. On Saturday, they did not.
Official: Saturday's Box Score.
Eovaldi held the Rox to a lone run in his 6 2/3 innings on the hill, pitching through traffic with six hits and four walks on his record while striking out three. His only blemish came in the fourth frame, when he walked Dexter Fowler to open the inning, then yielded a single to center off the bat of Cuddyer. With one out, Tyler Colvin finally broke through, driving a double to center to plate Fowler.
Colvin was stranded in scoring position, as was a Rockie in each of the next four innings as they left 11 men on base. The sixth inning was especially frustrating, as Wilin Rosario laced a leadoff double to center, but was stranded by Colvin, Jordan Pacheco and DJ LeMahieu, who went down in order.
Colorado rallied again in the eighth, opening with a leadoff walk and a single up the middle. Pacheco knocked an RBI single to right-center, sending home Rosario, and Chris Nelson lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Colvin and cut Miami's lead to three. But pinch-hitter Ramon Hernandez struck out, leaving Pacheco in scoring position.
Hernandez stayed in the game with Guillermo Moscoso taking Cuddyer's place in the order, despite the cleanup hitter being due up third in the ninth. After the game, Cuddyer revealed that he had re-injured his oblique and would almost certainly be going back to the disabled list.
The Rockies scored two more in the ninth to put their spin on the two-minute drill, but battle as they might, the hole proved too deep to escape.
Tickets are available for this afternoon’s game at Coors Field vs. the Miami Marlins, and can be purchased by calling (800) 388-ROCK, or click here.
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