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The Colorado Rockies lost the rubber match of their three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, 7-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The loss is the Rockies' fifth in six games. What went wrong for them?
Simply put, Colorado’s starting arms who took the mound this series were not good enough. Ryan Feltner and Kyle Freeland struggled in the first two games, and 34-year-old right-hander Michael Lorenzen did not have a quality outing, either.
Even after the Rockies’ offense provided a 1-0 advantage to work with in the first inning, Lorenzen gave up an RBI single that allowed the Cardinals to tie the game. In the third inning, he allowed a single and a walk that gave way to a sacrifice-fly RBI by Jimmy Crooks before giving up an RBI double to Masyn Winn.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lorenzen surrendered a leadoff home run to Alec Burleson, and after allowing a subsequent walk before forcing a ground out, Lorenzen’s afternoon was over. By the time he was heading back to the dugout, Lorenzen had allowed eight hits, two earned runs and three walks while notching only one strikeout in 4.1 innings.
Ahead of this series, I wrote about the tenuous nature of Colorado’s starting rotation. Even though it would be quite an arduous task, I stated that one of the three starters taking the hill in this three-game set would have to step up for the Rockies to win the series, and none of them did.
However, the responsibility does not fall solely on the starters. Indeed, Lorenzen did not pitch well, but it is also true that three earned runs and six hits combined were given up by Tanner Gordon and Parker Mushinski, the two relievers who followed.
By the end of the game, those who took the mound for Colorado gave up 14 hits, more earned runs than strikeouts and as many walks as strikeouts. When poor statistics are demonstrated, the chance of a successful outcome diminishes, and that was demonstrated in this series.
It may be unfair, but the reality for this team is that the offense has to carry a heavier load due to pitching inadequacies.
On Saturday, the Rockies’ hitters did enough to lift them to a win, but they did not do so on Sunday. Colorado earned four fewer hits and struck out two more times than St. Louis, which may not seem like a lot, but it limited opportunities.
Hunter Goodman and Brett Sullivan were good, as they combined for four RBIs and four hits in seven at-bats, but their efforts were futile in the end. Now, the Rockies have a tougher opponent in front of them in the Arizona Diamondbacks, whom they will play on Monday to kick off the next series of this road trip.
Continue reading...
The loss is the Rockies' fifth in six games. What went wrong for them?
Poor pitching
Simply put, Colorado’s starting arms who took the mound this series were not good enough. Ryan Feltner and Kyle Freeland struggled in the first two games, and 34-year-old right-hander Michael Lorenzen did not have a quality outing, either.
Even after the Rockies’ offense provided a 1-0 advantage to work with in the first inning, Lorenzen gave up an RBI single that allowed the Cardinals to tie the game. In the third inning, he allowed a single and a walk that gave way to a sacrifice-fly RBI by Jimmy Crooks before giving up an RBI double to Masyn Winn.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lorenzen surrendered a leadoff home run to Alec Burleson, and after allowing a subsequent walk before forcing a ground out, Lorenzen’s afternoon was over. By the time he was heading back to the dugout, Lorenzen had allowed eight hits, two earned runs and three walks while notching only one strikeout in 4.1 innings.
Ahead of this series, I wrote about the tenuous nature of Colorado’s starting rotation. Even though it would be quite an arduous task, I stated that one of the three starters taking the hill in this three-game set would have to step up for the Rockies to win the series, and none of them did.
However, the responsibility does not fall solely on the starters. Indeed, Lorenzen did not pitch well, but it is also true that three earned runs and six hits combined were given up by Tanner Gordon and Parker Mushinski, the two relievers who followed.
By the end of the game, those who took the mound for Colorado gave up 14 hits, more earned runs than strikeouts and as many walks as strikeouts. When poor statistics are demonstrated, the chance of a successful outcome diminishes, and that was demonstrated in this series.
Scoring shortcomings
It may be unfair, but the reality for this team is that the offense has to carry a heavier load due to pitching inadequacies.
On Saturday, the Rockies’ hitters did enough to lift them to a win, but they did not do so on Sunday. Colorado earned four fewer hits and struck out two more times than St. Louis, which may not seem like a lot, but it limited opportunities.
Hunter Goodman and Brett Sullivan were good, as they combined for four RBIs and four hits in seven at-bats, but their efforts were futile in the end. Now, the Rockies have a tougher opponent in front of them in the Arizona Diamondbacks, whom they will play on Monday to kick off the next series of this road trip.
Continue reading...
