Rockies 9, Brewers 6: Go DJ, You My DJ

DJ LeMahieu posted a career-high 4 hits tonight against Milwaukee, plating 2 runners in Colorado's 9-6 win in the series opener against the Brewers.

The Rockies jumped out to an early 3-0 lead against starter Michael Fiers, ultimately tagging the late-bloomer for 8 runs on 9 hits by the time he was pulled in the 3rd.

Jeff Francis pitched pretty well against a tough Milwaukee lineup, and almost notched one of the first quality starts we've seen from a Rockies starter in some time. Alas, Francis led off the 6th with a walk to catcher Jonathan Lucroy before allowing a 2-run shot to Carlos Gomez and giving way to Adam Ottavino. Francis' final line was 5.1 IP, 3ER, 2K, 2BB, 6H, W, and he dropped his season ERA below 6.00, all the way to 5.99.

Adam Ottavino continues to impress, pitching 2.2 innings with 2 punchouts, allowing merely 1 hit and zero walks.

Will Harris received a rough welcome to the majors, plunking Travis Ishikawa, allowing a hit to Carlos Gomez, and letting Rickie Weeks bury one in the LF stands. He got the job done though, sort of, preserving the Rockies win, despite halving their lead. He did punch out Ryan Braun to finish the game, though, so that's something.

Rockies bats were definitely on the ball today, raking hits all over the outfield grass. Every position player in the lineup posted at least 1 hit, while Eric Young Jr, Dexter Fowler, Tyler Colvin, and Chris Nelson all had 2 hits on the night.

I'm enjoying having Dexter Fowler in the 3 hole for the time being, if for no other reason than the fact that he's not expected to play the game like Eric Young Jr (that is, when he's batting leadoff, people expect him to be this little zippy guy, but batting 3rd, he can just hit the ball and his speed is an asset, not his primary weapon). The sample's still too small to really say how well he's adjusted, but it gives the Rockies something new to do with Fowler while EYJ is on his current tear.

That said, Carlos Gonzalez hasn't been hitting as well as a cleanup hitter, seeing almost a .200 OPS drop. It could also be that Cargo is just in a slump, but it stands to reason that opposing pitchers would rather see whoever's in the 5 slot for Colorado, as evidenced by the fact that Cargo has notched more walks than hits while batting cleanup this season.

Either way, it's a creative use of the current roster, and I'm all for that.

After tonight's 4-hit performance, DJ Lemahieu's season line has improved to .302/.333/.395.

Winning rules.

Source: FanGraphs