There was no Sunday hangover for the Rockies.
After a crushing 8-4 loss Saturday night, they rebounded with a 5-2 victory over the Phillies to take the three-game series. Philadelphia lost its first series since April 1-3 vs. Cincinnati, snapping a streak of 15 straight series with a win or split.
Right-hander Cal Quantrill once again delivered the goods for Colorado, making his fifth consecutive quality start. And, for a refreshing change of pace, the bullpen was lights out. Matt Carasiti, Nick Mears and Tyler Kinley each pitched a scoreless inning. Kinley earned his second save.
“Good starting pitching is the lifeblood, the backbone, and heart and soul of an organization that consistently wins,” manager Bud Black said. “This group here has pitched really well, and they’re the reason why a lot of these games have been close to the end.
“We’ve talked about the bullpen being a little ‘Jekyll and Hyde.’ They were the good (Dr. Jekyll) today, and hopefully, the doctor will make a house call tomorrow afternoon. But (the starters) have been really great.”
Kinley, who retired the Phillies in order in the ninth, knew the beleaguered bullpen needed a lift.
“That was awesome today,” he said. “It’s no secret that we haven’t done what we’re capable of this year. But there are still four months left in the season. Our starters have been phenomenal for the past month, maybe even longer than that … so it’s up to the bullpen guys to get the outs however we can.”
Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez came to Coors Field pitching like the leading Cy Young Award candidate, carrying a 9-0 record and 1.36 ERA. He pitched a complete-game shutout against the Rockies last month in Philadelphia.
But Colorado beat him up early on Sunday to post a 5-0 lead. Ryan McMahon hit a two-run homer to right in the first, driving in Brendan Rodgers, who reached base on a one-out single. It was McMahon’s 10th homer of the season, and he’s driven in a team-high 32 runs.
“I felt our guys were doing a really good job being short (to the ball) and laying off the stuff down in the zone,” McMahon said. “It’s tough because he makes his stuff look so good and then it drops down in the zone.”
McMahon jumped on Suarez’s sinker for the first-inning homer.
“I knew he was going to try and come in on me, and I was just committed to trying to get to him,” McMahon said. “And I got a little help from the wind, which never hurts.”
The Rockies scored three more runs in the second on an RBI double by Hunter Goodman, a run-scoring groundout by Rodgers and a throwing error by Philly third baseman Alex Bohm.
Suarez settled in after that and pitched through six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on just three hits. But he walked four to go with his nine strikeouts.
Quantrill was superb again. He allowed two runs on three hits over six innings and struck out five. Quantrill is 4-0 in his five May starts with a 1.71 ERA.
His only demerits on Sunday were two leadoff walks, but only one came back to bite him.
“I think my pitch mix has come along over the past month, month-and-a-half,” Quantrill said. “l wasn’t very good after the second inning today, but we were able to negotiate our way through 12 more outs.
“(Catcher Elias) Diaz did a great job behind the dish, calling the only things that were working. My command was bad today. My splitter was all right but doing some kind of funky things — it was cutting a little bit. I thought my curveball was pretty good, especially late in the game. Mostly, I just battled and mixed it up and hoped they hit it at somebody.”
And yet, Quantrill recorded a season-high 18 swings and misses.
Quantrill walked Kyle Schwarber to open the fifth, Bryce Harper reached on an error by first baseman Elehuris Montero, and Bohm’s single to right scored Schwarber. Quantrill quashed Philly’s hopes for a big inning by inducing Bryson Stott to ground into a double play.
Philly scored its second run in the fifth on a one-out double by Brandon Marsh and a two-out single by Johan Rojas.
The Rockies are 17-35, but McMahon said slowing down the Philly juggernaut showed that the Rockies are better than their lousy record.
“Look, I know our record doesn’t make us look like some great team or something like that,” he said. “But there’s a lot of great players in this room and we are so much better than what our record says. There’s still a lot of season left.”
Starting Strong
Cal Quantrill’s strong start Sunday vs. the Phillies was the latest example of Colorado’s resurgent rotation. A closer look:
• Quantrill made his fourth straight quality start at Coors Field, the first Rockies starter to do so since Germán Márquez’s six-game streak, May 21-July 4, 2021.
• Quantrill is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his first four starts at Coors Field, the lowest ERA through a pitcher’s first four starts at Coors as a Rockie in franchise history.
• Starters have pitched six consecutive quality starts for the first time since a streak of eight straight from June 29 to July 7, 2021.
• Starters have posted a 3.04 ERA with 11 quality starts over their last 16 games, including a 2.34 ERA with six quality starts in their last seven games at Coors Field.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Monday’s pitching matchup
Guardians RHP Xzavion Curry (0-0, 1.93 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 2.76)
2:10 p.m. Monday, 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
Gomber has been the Rockies’ best pitcher and one of the best in the majors this season. He has a 2.76 ERA and has posted a 0.68 ERA in four starts in May, the fifth-lowest ERA in the majors this month. His 2.76 ERA is the fifth-lowest by a Rockies starting pitcher through their first 10 starts of a season in franchise history. In five career games (two starts) against Cleveland, he’s 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA.
Curry has been called to duty because of injuries to starters Carlos Carrasco (neck), Gavin Williams (elbow) and Shane Bieber (elbow). After being called up from Triple-A Columbus last Tuesday, Curry started against the Mets and gave up two runs on seven hits and zero walks over 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision. Curry has faced the Rockies once, as a reliever, giving up no runs over 3 1/3 innings.
Pitching probables
Tuesday: Guardians RHP Triston McKenzie (2-3, 3.44) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-4, 5.07), 6:40 p.m.
Wednesday: Guardians LHP Logan Allen (6-2, 4.89) at Rockies LHP Ty Blach (1-2, 4.55), 6:40 p.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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