The Colorado Rockies continued to struggle to find their bats on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. Combine that with some sub-par pitching and you’ve got a 7-1 loss to open this three-game series.
Missed opportunities early
The Rockies had their chances in this game before the game got lopsided. Leadoff runners would reach and nothing would come of it. It was the kind of game where the offense felt hapless to the point that any deficit would feel insurmountable. It felt like the pitchers had no margin of error before they ever got roughed up in a blowout loss.
The difference between this year and last year is that the lineups look great. The kids are playing. Before he got hurt, Daniel Murphy was there as an upgrade. Now we just need those guys to get the job done so the results don’t feel like they did last year, especially on the road.
The offense didn’t get any better from there, as Nolan Arenado and David Dahl almost literally provided the only Colorado offense all game.
Chad Bettis gets knocked around
Early on it looked like Colorado’s fifth starter was going to give his team a chance in this game. He pitched into the sixth inning but eventually ended up with an ugly line. Bettis surrendered six runs on seven hits, including a couple home runs. He looked sharp and struck out some hitters early on, but he eventually was just too hittable and the Rays took advantage.
The Rockies got bullpenned
That’s a word, right? Ryne Stanek technically started the game, but he handed things over to Ryan Yarbrough after just one inning of work. And while it was technically a bullpen game from the Rays, it was Yarbrough who truly had the Rockies baffled. He went 4.1 innings with three strikeouts as he constantly kept the Colorado hitters off balance.
From there it was a few other talented guys you haven’t heard of, as is typical of a game against the Rays.
Looking ahead
The Rockies will try to get the bats on track on Tuesday. Unfortunately they will have to do so against defending AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell in a great pitching match-up that has Kyle Freeland on the mound for Colorado.