Rockies bullpen blows first game of year

Well, Opening Day was today, and it was looking pretty promising. Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez hit home runs early on, and Jhoulys Chacin pitched very well. Chacin was given his first ever Opening Day start, and pitched a heck of a game. Finishing the game with 6.2 innings pitched, along with only allowing one run on three hits, Chacin was in the zone. He threw one bad pitch to Norichika Aoki, and that was the only mistake he made all day.

Apr 1, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (45) is greeted by teammates after pitching against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA Today Sports

He deserved to get the win, but of course someone had to blow it. Matt Belisle did his job out of the bullpen which led to Wilton Lopez blowing the game in the eighth inning. Lopez was given the ball with a two run lead in the eighth inning, but allowed three runs to blow the lead. Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez had the big hits for the Brewers in that inning.

John Axford came in to close the game out and stuck out the first two batters he faced. The heroic switch was turned on by Dexter Fowler though, who homered with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game up.

Apr 1, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler (24) runs past Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Alex Gonzalez (11) as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the 9th inning to tie the game at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA Today Sports

Free baseball was on its way in Milwaukee, and it eventually led to a walk off sacrifice fly from Jonathan Lucroy in the bottom of the tenth, giving the Brewers the victory.

Man, that sucks. The Rockies don’t have much to look forward to this season, and an Opening Day victory would have been pretty sweet. Come on, Wilton Lopez. We’ll put this one on the bullpen, because Chacin deserved to win the game. On the bright side, it’s nice seeing Tulo, CarGo, and Fowler all going deep.