Rockies 3, Braves 2: Rockies score just enough, bullpen holds it down in victory

José Ureña bounced back from his last tough start to stay competitive against the Braves, and the offense was just barely able to scratch across the lead. Luckily Colorado’s bullpen was able to shut down the Braves and collect the 3-2 victory on Tuesday evening.

Ureña’s scary start

José Ureña is fresh off of a brutal start in his last outing, and seemed to be on the verge of another as Tuesday’s game began. After a fielding error behind him and two walks, Ureña faced down Travis d’Arnaud with the bases loaded and one out. As he fell behind in 3-1 count, things seemed dire for Ureña early on. Luckily, he was able to strike out d’Arnaud and Eddie Rosario to barely escape the inning.

That would not be the case for long. RBI doubles from Dansby Swanson and Rosario in the second and third innings, respectively, put the Braves in an early 2-0 lead. Ureña settled down considerably as his start went on, but the Rockies would once again need to mount a comeback to taste victory on Tuesday.

Rox fight back

The Rockies made Max Fried work hard throughout his start and were finally able to break through in the fourth inning. The top of that frame began with a blooper into center field from Brendan Rodgers. Michael Harris II dove to catch it, but the ball slipped by and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Rodgers to advance to third.

He’d trot home one pitch later when C.J. Cron knocked him in with a base hit.

Cron would get a chance to turn the jets on himself when he motored around the bases to score on Elehuris Montero’s double, squaring things at two.

Colorado would then take the lead in the fifth frame, as Cron’s bases-loaded RBI ground out brought Randal Grichuk home from third base to give the visitors their first lead of the game at 3-2.

Bouchard’s big moment

It took a few games, but Sean Bouchard finally got his first MLB knock. It came with two outs in the sixth inning, when he laced a line drive to left field that fell in for a hit. A big smile crossed Bouchard’s face as he stood at first base and conversed with Ron Gideon about the special moment.

Congratulations, Sean! Here’s to many more!

For those wondering, Michael Toglia did reach on an error, but no base hit in MLB game one. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to collect his initial knock too.

Bullpen shuts it down

After Ureña departed (his final line read as five innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, two walks, and a season-high six strikeouts), it was up to Colorado’s relief corps to hold the lead. Justin Lawrence did his part, tossing two very impressive scoreless innings to get things to the eighth when Calos Estévez stepped in. Having allowed one run over his last 15 ¹⁄₃ innings, Estévez put two men on put was able to escape the jam with a clutch strikeout of Robbie Grossman.

Daniel Bard worked a far less stressful ninth, setting the Braves down in order with two strikeouts. Bard’s 28th save of the year sealed the deal on a very solid team effort victory.

Up Next

The Rockies and Braves play the second game of their series on Wednesday. That game will pit Colorado’s Ryan Feltner (2-5, 5.87 ERA) against Atlanta’s Kyle Wright (16-5, 2.99 ERA). Feltner will do his best to keep the ball in the park against Atlanta’s tough lineup.

First pitch is at 5:20pm MDT. See you then!