Rockies 11, Braves 2: Rockies good, Braves awful

Tonight, the Colorado Rockies visited the team with the worst home record in all of baseball, and it quickly became apparent why the Braves have won just 27% of their games at Turner Field this season.

In the top of the first, Braves starter Lucas Harrell got the first two batters out before issuing a walk to Nolan Arenado, who advanced to second on a wild pitch before Carlos Gonzalez scored him with a single. It was that kind of night for Atlanta, who shot themselves in the foot repeatedly.

In the third inning, with a run already home on a Nolan Arenado single, Gonzalez walked to put runners on first and second for Trevor Story, who hit a soft ground ball to third base. Harrell came off the mound, grabbed the ball, and hurriedly fired it several feet wide of first base and into right field. Both CarGo and Nolan scored, and Story wound up at third. Daniel Descalso would score him with a sacrifice fly a moment later to make it 5-0 Rockies.

The next time the Rockies came to bat, they added two more runs on a DJ LeMahieu triple and another wild pitch by Harrell, whose night ended after 3 2/3 innings.

Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa was significantly better, as he once again pitched into the seventh inning. He dealt with some traffic and gave up runs in the fifth and the sixth, but it was yet another strong performance from him that brought his record level at 6-6 and lowered his ERA to 5.50 - less than half of what it was on May 24. It was also JDLR's fifth consecutive "quality start" of six innings or more with three runs or fewer allowed. He might be peaking at the right time for a contender to make a good offer for him at the trade deadline.

Adam Ottavino was less than impressive in his fourth appearance of the season. He looked wild and left after facing just two batters; walking one and recording a ground ball out. Boone Logan was terrific in an inning and two-thirds, getting a double play to end the seventh and setting down all three batters in the eighth. Chad Qualls worked a scoreless ninth.

After the fourth inning, the Rockies only recorded two more hits, but they still made a dent in the scoreboard thanks to a Ryan Raburn pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth. The three runners on base at the time - Arenado, Story and LeMahieu - were there because of two walks, and an error. If this is how it's been for the Braves all season I actually feel sorry for their fans. Wait, no I don't.

The Rockies will look to stay undefeated after the All-Star break tomorrow night at 5:10 MDT as Chad Bettis takes on Mike Foltynewicz. Say that name five times fast.

Source: FanGraphs