The Rockies’ offense remains a Rubik’s Cube. Just when the Rockies 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.
The Rockies were shut out for the ninth time, the third time at home.
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.
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Adames was ejected, and Hudson was one out from a clean getaway, but he walked Mitchell on four pitches, forcing in a run.
Milwaukee Brewers’ Willy Adames, right, argues with home plate umpire Mark Ripperger after he called out Adames on strikes in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Hudson’s night was done: three runs allowed on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out two. He 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.
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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