Colorado Rockies: Series Split after 12-1 Drubbing by Astros
The Colorado Rockies came back to earth with a 12-1 dismantling at the hands of the Houston Astros.
Tyler Anderson continued his uncharacteristic trend of giving up runs early and often, lasting only 4-1/3 and giving up a whopping nine earned runs. The Rockies offense was no match for Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole who spread five Rox hits over six innings of work.
Anderson’s last outing versus the Dodgers was an improvement over previous performances but he still only gave the Rockies six innings. On Wednesday night, Anderson never got out of the gates, surrendering a leadoff double to Alex Bergman and then walks to Marwin Gonzalez and Yuli Gurriel. a Carlos Correia double would clear the bases and put the Astros ahead 3-0.
The second inning would bring no better fortune for Anderson, as the Astros pushed their lead to 6-0. In the end, Tyler surrendered three home runs and the aforementioned nine earned runs. Harrison Musgrave came to provide mercy to the beleaguered Anderson but descended into his own quagmire, surrendering another three runs over his two innings of work. The Astros had their 12-spot. A forgettable night punctuated only by the equal ineffective push from the offensive side.
Next. Rox Defeat Verlander. dark
Colorado managed just five hits against Houston starter Gerrit Cole who notched a whopping 12 strikeouts in his six innings of dominance.
Colorado put together a bit of a two-out rally in the fourth with Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story stringing together singles to manufacture the Rockies’ lone run.
Arenado, once again occupying the DH spot in Houston’s American League park was 2-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Arenado is getting mention as an MVP candidate and earned high praise from Hall-of-Fame Phillies third-baseman Mike Schmidt:
"“In my opinion, Nolan Arenado is going to be the heir apparent to the all-time greatest third basemen,” Schmidt said. “He puts up numbers that I never even dreamed of. I don’t think George Brett did or Chipper did, either. His numbers are crazy, and he hasn’t won an M.V.P. yet, which is really crazy.”"
The silver lining to the loss is that it was Colorado’s first in it’s previous five games. If they can win 80% of their remaining contests, it is likely they will take the NL West and give Arenado that coveted playoff run.
All they need to do is get in.