Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 6: The bullpen falters and the rally falls short

Can’t say the Rockies didn’t have their opportunities to take the series. Twice they held a lead after six frames, twice they couldn’t bring it home, twice mainly as a result of the Diamondbacks getting to Alex Colomé. The lineup had one explosive inning in this one and then couldn’t do much in the other eight frames, and the result is a disheartening 6-4 loss that puts the Rockies further down in the NL West basement.

The Rox waste opportunities early

The Rockies figured to get their chances against Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies, and they did manage a lot of baserunners, but couldn’t convert them into runs. They put a two-out rally together in the 1st inning with a pair of singles and a walk, but Elías Díaz struck out looking to strand the bases loaded. In the 2nd, they had an even more favorable situation: first and second, nobody out, after an Elehuris Montero leadoff double and a Sam Hilliard walk. What happened? Garrett Hampson went down on three pitches with the bat on his shoulder and Yonathan Daza hit the first pitch he saw right into the ground for a 3-6-1 double play. Threat over.

José Ureña dances through six solid frames

This is the type of outing that will really ruin your FIP, but it works just fine for the Rox. Ureña walked three, struck out two and gave up a pair of homers (one of them a two-run shot to Christian Walker in the very first inning), but managed to get around that and five other hits via a bunch of groundballs, a well-timed pickoff, some athletic defense and two double plays turned behind him to post a quality start for the first time since July 16th.

The bats jump on the Arizona bullpen in the 6th

After the early trouble, Davies rolled through the 3rd, 4th and 5th, facing the minimum nine batters. At just 80 pitches, keeping him in the game seemed like a logical choice, but he was pulled after five shutout frames and the Rockies immediately jumped on reliever Kevin Ginkel. They recorded four hits and two walks, chasing him from the game before he could record an out. The Rox ended up scoring four runs in the 6th inning, the scoring headlined by a two-run C.J. Cron double and an RBI single from Elehuris Montero, who’s been on fire since returning to the Majors.

The Rockies bullpen falters again

For the second time in three days, Rockies relievers cost a Rockies starter the win after a quality start. Germán Márquez was the victim on Friday, and today was José Ureña’s turn. The D-Backs made a lot of loud contact in the 7th against Robert Stephenson, tying up the ballgame at 4-4 with a ringing Josh Rojas double that went over the head of Connor Joe in deep left field. In the 8th, they worked Alex Colomé into a corner and got to him again, tagging him with the loss for the second time in the series. Colomé allowed a double, then walked back-to-back batters with one out before (hold on, now) balking home the go-ahead run and allowing a sac fly to make it 6-4.

A rally that comes up just short

Facing Mark Melancon in the 9th, the Rockies got a 1-out rally going, with a Daza walk and a McMahon bloop single into left center. However, they couldn’t quite complete it. Brendan Rodgers grounded out, the D-Backs intentionally walked C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk, batting with the bases loaded and two outs in a two-run game, bounced out 6-4 to end the ballgame. The Rox let another one slip away late and drop to 48-63 on the season. They’ll get a day off tomorrow before heading back home to face Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals on Tuesday (6:40 PM MT).

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