The Rockies have turned heartbreak into an art form.
For the umpteenth time this season, a late-inning rally against their undependable bullpen cost the Rockies a victory on Saturday night.
The Phillies won 8-4, scoring six runs in the ninth off relievers Jalen Beeks, Justin Lawrence and John Curtiss. The Coors Field crowd of 37,535 fans, many clad in Philly red, held a party.
Beeks committed a cardinal sin by walking leadoff hitter Brandon Marsh. Enter Lawrence, who promptly gave up an RBI triple to Edmundo Sosa, tying the game, 3-3. Garrett Stubbs’ single through the right side scored Sosa for the go-ahead run.
It got worse. Much worse.
Curtiss relieved Lawrence and promptly gave up a three-run homer to Bryce Harper, who sliced his 13th homer of the season just inside the left-field foul pole. The Phillies fans of LoDo serenaded Harper with chants of “MVP! MVP!”
A double by Alec Bohm and an RBI single by Nick Castellanos put a bow on Philly’s comeback.
The painful part for the Rockies, who are now 17-34 and on pace to lose 108 games, is that they are wasting excellent starting pitching.
Behind a solid start from Dakota Hudson, the Rockies looked primed to beat the powerful Phillies for the second night in a row.
Hudson, who’s been the weak link in the rotation chain, pitched a fine game. He held the Phillies to two runs on five hits over six innings. The right-hander has been walk-prone, but he issued just one free pass and fanned two.
Over the last five games, the Rockies have five quality starts and a sparkling 1.93 ERA. Since May 1 (22 games), they have a 3.80 ERA with 12 quality starts. All of that after an April in which Colorado starters posted a 5.81 ERA with just seven quality starts.
Hudson’s night started out a bit rough. Kyle Schwarber led off with a solid single up the middle and scored on Harper’s line-drive single to right.
But Hudson regrouped and held Philly scoreless until the fifth. Stubbs led off with a single, advanced to second on Johan Rojas’ groundout, and then took third on a delayed steal when he caught the Rockies napping. Stubbs scored on Kyle Schwarber’s sacrifice fly to center, cutting Colorado’s lead to 3-2.
The Rockies manufactured single runs in the first, second and third innings against Phillies starter Aaron Nola. It was all the offense the Rockies needed.
Back-to-back, two-out walks by Ryan McMahon and Kris Bryant set the table for Brendan Rodgers’ RBI single in the first. In the second, Brenton Doyle led off with an infield single, stole second, and took third on Jacob Stallings’ single. Doyle scored on Hunter Goodman’s groundout to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
Ezequiel Tovar converted his leadoff single into a 3-1 lead in the third. Marsh’s error allowed Tovar to scoot to second, and Tovar took third on Ryan McMahon’s groundout. Tovar scored on Bryant’s hard groundout that caromed off Nola.
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