The Rockies’ offense remains a Rubik’s Cube. Just when they start to figure it out, things don’t line up.
Case in point: their 3-0 loss to the Brewers Wednesday night at Coors Field in front of an announced crowd of 34,177.
Veteran Milwaukee right-hander Colin Rea confounded Colorado for seven innings, allowing six hits and never giving up back-to-back hits. He struck out four and walked none. Colorado’s only extra-base hit off Rae was a one-out double by catcher Elias Diaz in the fourth.
“He throws three different fastballs and that’s always tough,” said third baseman Ryan McMahon, who was 0 for 3 vs. Rae and 0 for 4 overall. “He kind of lulls you to sleep and then throws that four-seamer by you. He’s got enough on it — 94 mph, high release, good extension — that he keeps you off-balance. I thought he mixed and matched pretty well.”
Manager Bud Black agreed.
“Rea is a veteran pitcher and knows his game,” Black said. “He worked both sides of the plate. … He had really good command and his strike ratio was good.”
Rae threw 97 pitches, 67 for strikes.
The Rockies were shut out for the ninth time, and the third time at home. The four shutouts are tied for the fourth-most in the majors this season. The Rockies went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and are 9 for 61 (.148) with runners in scoring position over their nine games, during which they are 3-6.
“We just didn’t threaten tonight; we just couldn’t get there,” Black said. “We just couldn’t bunch (hits) together and that’s been a little bit of an issue our entire season.”
Colorado’s best chance for a rally came in the eighth against right-hander Jakob Junis. Charlie Blackmon reached on a two-out walk and Brendan Rodgers dumped a single into shallow right. Up stepped Ryan McMahon, who ripped a 0-1 changeup to the left field only to see Christian Yelich track it down for the final out.
Center fielder Brenton Doyle (2 for 4) blasted a one-out double into the right-center gap off Junis in the ninth, but Doyle was stranded. Junis struck out Michael Toglia looking and closed out the game by fanning Nolan Jones on a 3-2 breaking ball.
Colorado starter Dakota Hudson did a decent job playing traffic cop and avoided any blowout innings, but with Colorado’s offense stuck in neutral, he departed with a 3-0 deficit.
Yelich, who was voted in as an All-Star Game starter earlier in the day, lined a 446-foot homer off the second-deck facade in right field to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Brewers made it 2-0 in the second, combining a two-out walk by Sal Frelick, who advanced to second on Hudson’s wild pitch, with Jake Bauers’ single to right.
Hudson escaped a major jam in the third by striking out Willy Adames and inducing Garrett Mitchell to ground out to second.
The fifth was messy — for both teams.
Milwaukee loaded the bases on singles by Brice Turang and William Contreras and a walk by Yelich. Hudson struck out Adames for the third time — the second time looking — and Adames went off on home plate umpire Mark Ripperger.
Adames was ejected, and Hudson was one out from a clean getaway, but he walked Mitchell on four pitches, forcing in a run.
Hudson’s night was done: three runs allowed on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out two. He needed 90 pitches to get through his night.
“I was trying to see what I could do to try and (keep the game) as close as possible,” Hudson said. “I just wasn’t able to get as deep as I wanted. After that first inning I thought I was able to settle in and mix my pitches.”
Added Black: “Hudson hung in there. It was a little bit of a struggle. The pitch count was high.”
Hudson is now 2-12 with a 5.84 ERA. His 12 losses are the most in the majors and the most by a Rockies pitcher before the All-Star break in franchise history. Darryl Kile was 5-11 in 1998.
On a night when the Rockies’ taxed and beleaguered bullpen needed some support, right-hander Peter Lambert was excellent. Recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque before the game, he shut down the Brewers for 4 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on two hits. He walked none and fanned two.
Black called Lambert’s outing “outstanding.” When asked if Lambert has entered the conversation to move into the starting rotation, Black answered, “We’ll talk about it for sure. But that looked good tonight for Peter.”
Thursday’s pitching matchup
Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (5-2, 3.26 ERA) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (6-6, 3.78)
6:10 p.m. Thursday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Quantrill has been Colorado’s best pitcher but he’s looking for a rebound start. In his last outing, the right-hander allowed five runs on seven hits, including a season-high three home runs, in 5 1/3 innings against the White Sox in Chicago. Quantrill ranks fourth among National League pitchers with a 2.6 WAR (Baseball Reference) and seventh with 10 quality starts. He’s thrived at Coors Field, going 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in six starts at Coors Field. He’s made just one career appearance vs. the Brewers, pitching two-thirds of an inning in relief on Sept. 5, 2020, as a member of the Guardians.
Myers is rolling, going 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA in his last five starts. But he hit a speed bump last Saturday vs. the Cubs, getting a no-decision in the Brewers’ 5-3 loss. Over six innings, he gave up three runs on seven hits (one home run) with two walks, six strikeouts and two walks. The 25-year-old rookie has never faced the Rockies.
Pitching probables
Friday: Royals LHP Cole Ragans (5-6, 3.33) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 7.94), 6:10 p.m.
Saturday: Royals RHP Seth Lugo (11-2, 2.17) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-5, 4.72), 7:10 p.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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