Saturday, July 27, 2013

Rockies Lose Rain Lengthened Game to Brewers

     The Rockies fought back tonight against the Brewers after they fell behind 6-0 early, but it was not enough as the Brewers finished the Rockies off in the ninth inning after a one hour and forty five minute rain delay. Collin McHugh had a disappointing debut for the team as he allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings. He also walked one and struck out two. He struggled from start to finish in the game and really did not show any signs of figuring it out. The Rockies were shutout offensively by Tom Gorzelanny until the rain came in the sixth inning. Gorzelanny struggled to find the same rhythm on the mound that he had in the first five innings and he was obviously shaken up by all of the rain on the mound. He only recorded one out in the sixth inning and was removed after he gave up a three run home run to Wilin Rosario which cut the Brewers lead down to two. The Brewers answered in the seventh inning when Jonathan Lucroy hit his 15th home run of the season to right field off of Adam Ottavino. The lead was still at three for the Brewers when Troy Tulowitzki came up to lead off the eighth inning. He took John Axford deep to right field and got the Rockies back to within two, but that was as close as they could get as the game and the final score ended up being 7-5.

     Collin McHugh should be very disappointed after his efforts in tonight's game. He looked like a deer caught in headlights throughout his time on the mound and failed to get comfortable in his start. He left several pitches up in the zone and the Brewers took advantage of it and pounded the baseball. In the first inning he gave up three hard hit doubles and a single which put the Rockies behind early 3-0. He then gave up one run in the second inning and two runs in the third inning. He was able to get the Brewers in his final two innings of work but the damage had been done and the Rockies were trailing 6-0 in the game when he exited. The Rockies were looking for a better effort from McHugh as he has enough experience in regards to his age and his Minor League experience. He has not been able to translate his Minor League success to the Major League level. He has been a very good pitcher in the Minor's but much like tonight.

     The Rockies were led offensively by Troy Tulowitzki who went 3 for 4 with 18th home run of the season. He also had two RBI on the night and now has 58 on the year. Wilin Rosario had two hits on the night including his 14th home run of the year which was a three run shot in the sixth inning off of Brewers starter Tom Gorzelanny. You can feel that the Rockies are close to breaking out of their offensive slump but they are not quite there. For the past week they have failed to come up with a consistent performance in which they have a good game on both sides of the ball. It always seems to be that their offense is on and the pitching is off or the pitching does well and the offense can't do anything. Hopefully they can figure it out and get a couple of games where they do everything well. If not then the Rockies front office may be forced to become sellers before the trade deadline in a couple of days.

     The Rockies will be hosting the Brewers for the rubber match of their three game series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 PM Mountain time. Jhoulys Chacin (9-5, 3.53 ERA) of the Rockies will be taking on Donovan Hand (0-2, 3.41 ERA) for the Brewers.

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