Rockies Drop Opener in Philadelphia

     The Rockies made a valiant comeback attempt tonight against the Phillies but in the end they came up just short and dropped the opening game of the four game series by a final score of 5-4. Jeff Manship struggled again on the mound and dug the Rockies into a 5-0 hole that they could not get out of. The Rockies made Ethan Martin look like an all star for the first six innings of the game but they were able to break through and touch him up in the seventh. The Rockies got a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings, and they cut the lead to 5-4 heading into the ninth inning. The ninth started off promising for the Rockies as DJ LeMahieu hit a single back up the middle off of Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon. Unfortunately, LeMahieu was caught leaning and was picked off of first base. The Rockies were not able to get anything else going against Papelbon as he retired the next two hitters and recorded his 21st save of the season. After winning the first game of their road trip, the Rockies have now lost three in a row. They will look to turn it around tomorrow when they send Jorge De La Rosa to the mound.

     Jeff Manship is now 0-3 on the year and his ERA now sits at a lofty 7.80. In the game today he went five innings allowing six hits, five runs, one walk and struck out four. He looked good through the first three innings of the game as he was keeping the ball down in the zone and keeping it away from the power of their lineup. He was then touched up for four runs in the fourth inning capped off by a John Mayberry Jr three run home run. Carlos Ruiz tagged him in the next inning for another home run which pushed the lead to 5-0 for the Phillies. Manship continues to struggle with leaving balls up in the zone which leaves him vulnerable to giving up home runs. He has now given up four home runs in three starts which spans 15 innings of work. This is something that he will need to improve upon if he wants to stay at the Major League Level.

     Troy Tulowitzki continues to swing a hot bat as he added another two hits in the game today including a long solo home run in the seventh inning to break up the shutout being thrown by Ethan Martin. The Rockies had only two hits going into the seventh inning but they came on in the last three innings and they finished the game with seven hits total.

     The Rockies will be back in action tomorrow against the Phillies and will be looking to end their three game slide. They will be sending Jorge De La Rosa (12-6, 3.22 ERA) to the mound to face off with a mystery pitcher for the Phillies. First Pitch for the game tomorrow is at 5:05 PM Mountain time.