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Jhoulys Chacin's final tuneup before returning to the Rockies' rotation was pretty good, all things considered. Chacin worked six innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and striking out four. The one area of concern is the four walks he issued to the Redbirds. He induced six ground outs to two fly outs, so the sinker appears to be working. Ready or not, this rotation could use a steadying hand.
The offense pulled its weight yesterday, piling up seven runs. Ryan Wheeler and Jason Pridie cracked home runs while Ben Paulsen belted a triple. Kyle Parker was 0-for-3 with a walk, bringing his season line to .293/.366/.512.
The bullpen worked three scoreless innings to preserve the easy win.
Tyler Anderson worked five innings, struck out five, walked none, and allowed no earned runs. Pretty good right? Well, somehow three unearned runs managed to cross the plate. I guess four errors will ruin anyone's night. Joey Wong committed a fielding error in the first to allow a run to score. Two more errors in the third allowed two more runs. They pulled Anderson after only 64 pitches, 47 of which were strikes. His season ERA sits at 2.16
Nelson Gonzalez came on in relief and promptly opened the flood gates, allowing six runs to score in two thirds of an inning. Whoops.
The offense never got a whole lot going, scoring solitary runs in four innings but never threatening a crooked number. The team went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, which obviously won't get it done. The only extra base hit was Dustin Garneau's double. Top catching prospect Tom Murphy is having a tough start, going 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his season batting average to .172.
Bit of a wild one here. Modesto finally broke out offensively, though San Jose kept with them to the end. The Nuts finished with 13 hits and eight walks in this slugfest, including a 3-for-3 night from Trevor Story (two doubles, two walks, no strikeouts). Will Swanner went 3-for-4 with four runs driven in, and Jordan Ribera drove in four as well with a pair of doubles.
Starter Ben Alsup was not effective, allowing six earned runs in 5.2 innings. But sometimes the ball just flies, as we fans of Rockies baseball are well aware.
Asheville scored early and often to salt this one away, much like Rome salted the earth of Carthage after a conquest. David Dahl led the phalanx with a three-hit night. Ryan McMahon only got a single and a sac fly, so they finally managed to keep him in the yard. Raimel Tapia, dropped to eighth in the order to try to spark his bat, ambushed the Romans from that spot, like Hannibal crossing the Alps, as he slugged his first home run of the season.
Zach Jemiola worked six innings and only gave up two runs (both on solo homers), while the bullpen held the line.