Coming off a victory in the first game of the series, the Colorado Rockies were hoping to continue to build momentum on Saturday afternoon against the Texas Rangers. After being handed an early 2-0 lead and holding the opposition scoreless through six innings, starter Kyle Freeland allowed two runs in the bottom of the seventh before the bullpen ultimately surrendered the game in a 5-2 loss.
Quality Kyle
Saturday’s seven innings of two-run ball resulted in the ninth quality start of the season for Freeland, a number that continues to pace the Rockies’ starting staff. Through his first six innings, Freeland faced no more than four batters in a single inning. The seventh was ultimately the downfall for the Denver native. After a leadoff triple from Rougned Odor, Isiah Kiner-Falefa knocked him in with his 10th double of the year. After getting Joey Gallo and Ronald Guzman to fly out and ground out respectively, Jose Trevino came through with a game-tying RBI single past the outstretched glove of a diving Nolan Arenado at third base.
Hip, Hip, Jose!
The game-tying single for Trevino was his first major league hit and RBI. This was the 25-year-old Trevino’s second MLB game, after receiving a call-up from the Double-A Frisco Roughriders, despite never receiving a go-around through the Triple-A level. Trevino’s numbers for Frisco were certainly not eye-popping (.233/.284/.333 slash line), and the catcher does not have a long track record of success in the Minor Leagues. Regardless of the path that led to this moment, Trevino will remember this game quite fondly.
Bullpen woes continue
Harrison Musgrave entered the game in the eighth in a 2-2 game, and ultimately did not retire a single batter. Musgrave allowed three runs on two hits and a walk. The big blow was a two-run triple by Adrian Beltre to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. The struggling Bryan Shaw entered the game and allowed a sacrifice fly to Odor to make it 5-2, but retired the next two batters to stop the bleeding.
Early returns
Through their first four innings, the Rockies only collected one hit, but it was a productive one. Carlos Gonzalez came through with an RBI single to score Ian Desmond, who had reached via a walk and then advanced to second base on a balk from Rangers starter Mike Minor. An Arenado sac fly in the sixth inning would be result in the only add-on run scored by the Rockies.
The only extra base hit the Rox collected was a double from Tom Murphy in the top of the seventh. Murphy also reached on a walk with one out in the ninth, before Gonzalez grounded into a forceout and Chris Iannetta struck out to end the game.