Rockies down big early, rally to within one, then lose big anyway 13-7

For a little bit there, it looked like the Rockies might pull off a big comeback. A rally in the middle innings brought the score from 7-1 to 7-6, thanks in large part to a Tom Murphy three run home run. But the offense stalled and John Axford had an apocalyptic ninth inning to dash any hopes of LoDo magic. The Pirates won their second straight in the series by a score of 13-7.

Christian Bergman was not particularly effective, working only 3 2/3 innings and surrendering seven runs. Neil Walker's three run blast capped off Bergman's crummy night.

Home runs by Corey Dickerson and the aforementioned Murphy brought the Rockies back into it in the middle innings. And for the next few innings the bullpen held strong, including a three strikeout eighth by Rex Brothers, which was very good to see. Rex has been in the wilderness for a long time now, but his fastball and slider looked real sharp tonight. It's little things like that that make these lousy nights less annoying.

We would have loved to go to the ninth inning down by just a run, but the John Axford Odyssey results in all sorts of peaks and valleys. Tonight was a valley. He loaded the bases up and allowed a bases clearing double. The hit parade would continue against him and Jason Gurka, and when the dust settled the Rocks were down by tacos.

Corey Dickerson would add an RBI double in the ninth. I love that man.

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-09-23&team=Rockies&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-09-23&team=Rockies&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>