What’s wrong with the Rockies? Well, for starters, it’s their starters.
So it was Friday night in the desert when the Diamondbacks tagged veteran left-hander Austin Gomber for six runs on five hits over six innings as they cruised to a 6-1 win at Chase Field.
The killer blows off Gomber were a three-run double by Blaze Alexander in the first, a leadoff homer by Alexander in the fourth, and a two-run homer by Corbin Carroll in the fifth.
“I thought Gomber was better tonight, after the first inning,” manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters in Phoenix. “I thought he was squeezed a little bit with a couple of those walks early on. But after the first inning, he settled in, and I thought he made pitches.
“But he had a couple of misses that got hit out of the park. But he gave us six innings, which we needed, big-time.”
Rockies starters have an 8.09 ERA in their 19 games since the All-Star break. Friday night, Gomber saved the bullpen by going six innings, but he’s 0-8 with a 6.75 ERA over his last 12 starts.
Over their five-game losing streak, the Rockies have been outscored 54-11.
The ray of light for the Rockies was the play of rookie third baseman Kyle Karros and rookie first baseman Warming Bernabel. Karros made his big league debut and slashed a one-out single to right in the second inning off veteran right-hander Zac Gallen to drive in Bernabel, who led off the inning with a double. Karros also made several pretty plays at third base.
“In Kyle’s first game in the big leagues, it was pretty cool to see him get that first knock,” Schaeffer said. “He played solid defense tonight and it was a good debut for him.”
Per usual, the Rockies trailed after the first inning. This time, 3-0. And Colorado had no answer for Gallen, who gave up one run on four hits over six innings. Gallen struck out six and walked three.
In the first frame this season, Colorado has been outscored 147-47. Overall, the Rockies’ minus-321 run differential dwarfs any other team in the majors. It’s 173 runs greater than the next-worst differential (Washington at minus-146).
Gomber, visibly upset by home plate umpire Brian Walsh’s erratic strike zone, walked three. All three of those free passes hurt him. In the first, he issued a leadoff walk to Ketel Marte and a one-out walk to Geraldo Perdomo, and both scored on Alexander’s double. In the fifth, he issued another leadoff walk to Marte, who trotted home on Carroll’s 424-foot blast off Gomber’s 1-1 knuckle curve.
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