The Colorado Rockies just did something no team had done since 1922, playing four different teams in four different ballparks on consecutive days. That per Elias, passed along by Jake Shapiro.
They also faced an abnormality in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers as the Brew crew didn’t use a starting pitcher, the home team instead utilized six bullpen pitchers, making it difficult for Colorado to lock-in and find hits.
Today, when the Rockies and Brewers face off in Game 2 (2:15 p.m. MT first pitch), they’ll be going against a starting pitcher, and one Rockies fans know all too well in Jhoulys Chacin.
Chacin played for Colorado from 2009-2014, going 38-48 with a 3.78 ERA. His best season in the Mile High City came in 2013, going 14-10 with a 3.47 ERA.
And even though that was five years ago, Chacin still has something left in the tank, at 30 years old. For Milwaukee this season, he’s gone 15-8 with a 3.50 ERA while enjoying the lowest WHIP of his career at 1.163.
Without a doubt, Chacin is on top of his game this season, presenting the Rockies’ slumping offense with a difficult task today.
Nolan Arenado, the Rockies’ MVP, is 1-8 with three strikeouts in the team’s two playoff games. Trevor Story, another Colorado superstar, went 3-6 against the Cubs but went 0-4 yesterday with three strikeouts in the loss to the Brewers. And Charlie Blackmon has gone 2-7 combined, although he knocked home an RBI in yesterday’s game.
Simply, those three stars must be the leaders for the Rockies offense today against Chacin, and Colorado will have to get help from many others like Carlos Gonzalez, Gerardo Parra, Matt Holliday and more.
On the bump for Colorado will be Tyler Anderson, a homegrown starter who’s struggled through an up-and-down season but is fresh off a 7.2 innings pitched game last Friday against the Nationals, giving up four hits and no runs while striking out five and walking three.
That, however, was the first time Anderson didn’t give up a single earned run in 13 starts, so hopefully for the Rockies he’ll be riding the momentum of that game today. Milwaukee has a bunch of big bats, but their batting stats this season were middle-of-the-road.
The Brewers came in at 12th in batting average (.252) and runs scored (754) and on-base percentage (.323) during the regular season. Christian Yelich, who hit a two-run home run on Thursday, not only leads Milwaukee in homers (36) but also in batting average (.326). First baseman Jesus Aguilar also has a lot of pop in his bat, with 35 homers on the season, and a team-leading 108 RBIs.
However, both Yelich and Aguilar are subject to striking out — 135 and 143 times respectively — so those matchups for Anderson will be crucial in today’s game.
Yelich is 2-9 (.222 BA) versus Anderson with three strikeouts while Aguilar is 1-3 (.333) with two strikeouts all-time. Ryan Braun, the former MVP in 2011, is Milwaukee’s best at 5-8 (.666) all-time against Anderson, with three home runs.
After trailing 2-0 for most of yesterday’s Game 1, the Rockies put on a ninth-inning rally to tie it up 2-2 and send the contest to extras. If they want to win today, they need more early offense to avoid having to come back.
These Rockies have resiliency in spades, meaning there’s a good chance they bounce back today.