Dose of Venom: Diamondbacks blaze another trail to loss, fall to Rockies 5-4
Apr 30, 2014, 6:10 AM | Updated: 6:18 am
PHOENIX — Different day. Different path traveled. Same destination.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, despite leads of 2-0 and 3-2 and then rallying to tie the game at 4, dropped their fourth in a row, losing 5-4 to the Colorado Rockies before an announced crowd of 19,702 at Chase Field on Tuesday.
The deciding blow this time: A solo home run by pinch hitter Drew Stubbs, who took Addison Reed deep to leadoff the ninth inning.
“Got 0-2 quick. I was feeling good,” Reed said. “And then terrible slider in the zone. It was supposed to be down and away, left it over the middle of the plate and he made me pay for it.”
The home run, the first of the year by Stubbs, came a half inning after A.J. Pollock homered to knot the game at 4, which at the time appeared to give the Diamondbacks some momentum.
Rookie starter Mike Bolsinger looked good early, allowing but a single hit through the first three innings. He retired nine straight before running into trouble the second and third time through the order. The Rockies scored twice in the fourth and twice in the sixth.
“You look at that lineup and it’s a good hitting lineup,” said Bolsinger, who was making his first start in front of the home crowd. “You really got to work and if you make a mistake — I made a mistake to (Troy Tulowitzki in the sixth) and he hit a home run. It’s just got to be better pitch selection.”
With the loss, the Diamondbacks are 8-22 — including 2-15 in home games — and have fallen 9.5 games back in the NL West, the largest deficit in baseball.
THE GOOD
Bolsinger consistently got ahead in the count, throwing a first pitch strike to 17 of the 24 batters he faced.
Aaron Hill went 1-for-3 and is now hitting .440 (11-for-25) with four doubles, one homer and seven RBI in his last seven games.
Miguel Montero went 2-for-5 and has now hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games (.286; 12-for-35) with four doubles, one homer, seven RBI and 10 walks.
Chris Owings went 2-for-4 and is now hitting .341 (14-for-41) in his last 12 games. He made the defensive play of the game with a diving catch in foul territory after a long run to retire Jordan Pacheco to end the eighth inning.
Entering the sixth inning with two on and no outs, Oliver Perez retired three straight batters, the last two by strikeout, to limit the Rockies damage to a pair of runs. It was his third scoreless outing in a row and the eighth time in nine appearances that he held the opposition to zero runs.
In addition to Perez, the Diamondbacks received scoreless performances out of relievers Joe Thatcher and Brad Ziegler. Thatcher has not allowed an earned run in 10 of his last 11 games, while Ziegler, after a 1-2-3 eighth inning, recorded his 12th straight scoreless outing covering 11.2 innings.
THE BAD
With two outs in the fourth inning, the Rockies strung together back-to-back-to-backs hits — Tulowitzki single, Justin Morneau triple and Nolan Arenado single — to tie the game at 2. Morneau extended his hitting streak to 13 games, Arenado to 19 games, the longest current hitting streak in the Majors.
Bolsinger did not record an out in the sixth inning. He faced four batters — Carlos Gonzalez double, Tulowitzki home run, Morneau single and Arenado single — giving up two runs before manager Kirk Gibson exited the dugout to remove him from the game.
The Diamondbacks failed to score in the sixth inning despite loading the bases with no outs. Owings grounded into a fielders’ choice, Roger Kieschnick struck out and Tony Campana grounded out to end the threat.
Kieschnick, who pinch-hit for Bolsinger, is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts since being recalled from Triple-A Reno on April 24.
Campana finished 0-for-4; and now has one hit in his last 26 at-bats (.038).
STAT(S) OF THE GAME
3: The number of ninth inning home runs allowed by Reed this season
1-8-1: The Diamondbacks series record after losing the first two games of the three-game series against the Rockies.
HE SAID IT
“You just got to make your choices. I thought it was a pretty good matchup for Roger actually and they had no lefty up in the bullpen,” said manager Kirk Gibson, explaining why he used Kieschnick rather than Martin Prado or Cody Ross to pinch-hit with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
“We had a ton of opportunities. We were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. We left 11 guys on (base). Regardless, we had our opportunities.”
NOTED
• Eric Chavez is two RBI shy of 900 for his career after his run-scoring single in the fourth inning
• Stubbs’ home run was his first with the Rockies and his first since September 27, 2013 at the Minnesota Twins
• Owings leads all NL rookies with 25 hits, four shy of the Diamondbacks’ rookie record for most hits in March/April (29, Travis Lee in 1998)
• Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa, a special assistant to Commissioner Bud Selig, was in attendance, watching the game from the pressbox
UP NEXT
Josh Collmenter takes the mound in the series finale on Wednesday, April 30. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Collmenter (1-2, 3.38) won his last start, tossing six scoreless innings with four hits allowed and five strikeouts against the Phillies on April 25. He’s gone 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA (7 ER in 16 IP) in three starts since moving into the rotation. The Rockies, meanwhile, counter with right-hander Jordan Lyles, who in his first season in Colorado is 3-0 with a 2.93 ERA in five starts. He’s faced the Diamondbacks three times, all while with the Astros, going 0-2 with a 10.43 ERA.
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