An untimely injury spoiled what was looking like a great start for Jordan Lyles and the Colorado Rockies in the first game of their doubleheader with the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. Lyles was pitching a shutout in the fourth inning before he sprained a toe in his left foot on a two out, RBI single by Hunter Pence.
Lyles stayed in the game after being examined by trainer Keith Dugger, but his performance was clearly affected by the injury to his plant foot. The Giants ripped off two more runs in the fourth inning and loaded the bases in the fifth before Lyles was pulled from the game on the third trip to the mound by manager Walt Weiss.
The Rockies are classifying the starting pitcher as day-to-day.
Lyles ended up allowing six runs, five earned, on seven hits in four innings after reliever Johan Flande allowed all three of the inherited base runners to score.
The ugly line is especially unfortunate because Lyles looked great before being shaken up. The 24-year-old was commanding the strike zone early and didn’t give up a hit in the first three innings of the game.
Flande ended up allowing four runs of his own in two innings as the Giants took the momentum and blew the game out of reach.
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.
