The Colorado Rockies were shutout 5-0 and swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the final game of the series and road trip. The Rockies’ road abysmal road record falls to 6-31, and it’s unlikely to improve any time soon with woeful bullpen performances and a fundamentally broken road offense seeming to have the team completely flummoxed.
Capable Chi Chi
Chi Chi González had the start for the Rockies today and put together his best start since returning to the rotation at the beginning of June. In five innings of work Chi Chi allowed just one run on three hits, with two walks and four strikeouts. The one run was a home run, something Chi Chi has struggled with this season. In 69 2⁄3 innings (15 games, 11 starts), he has given up 12 home runs.
Bullpen continues to baffle
Unlike the last two games, the Rockies didn’t have a lead to surrender when the bullpen struggled to get outs. However, giving up four runs is still less than ideal. After Chi Chi González left, rookie lefty Lucas Gilbreath took on the sixth inning. Gilbreath was unable to get a single out, giving up a single, a two-run home run, and a walk to his three batters. He was replaced by fellow rookie Justin Lawrence, who got two quick outs before a walk and a double put another two across for the Brewers. Lawrence did have an excellent seventh inning where he struck out two, and ended up with four total strikeouts through his two innings of work. Yency Almonte gave up a single and a walk in his inning of work, but didn’t allow any damage to be done and lowered his ERA to 10.13.
Where has all the offense gone?
The Rockies put up four runs in each of their first two games against the Brewers this series. It seemed like the offense then decided to take the day off for the finale. Charlie Blackmon, Ryan McMahon, and Raimel Tapia all sat out. McMahon and Tapia each got a late game at-bat, but failed to do anything with them. The Rockies mustered just four hits in the game, all singles. Brendan Rodgers has himself a five game hit streak, and has raised his batting average to .273 on a 1-for-4 day. Elías Díaz, Trevor Story, and Chi Chi González also had singles in the shutout loss.
Coming up next
The Rockies will jet home tonight to kick off their last homestand before the All-Star Break. Tomorrow will mark “Opening Day 2.0” at Coors Field, and old friend Tyler Anderson and his Pittsburgh Pirates will face Kyle Freeland and the Rockies. First pitch is at 3:10 PM MDT.