Day, night; for the Rockies, it didn’t matter in this three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati.
After two straight night-game wins, the Rockies brought their A-game despite the 10:35 a.m. MT first pitch. Well, the first seven innings were superb for Colorado, that’s when the wheels fell off — when the bullpen came in — and the Rockies ended up losing 7-5 in 13 innings.
Colorado was ahead mostly the entire game until Anderson was pulled going into the eighth, as they led 5-2 at that point. That’s when the Reds capitalized on Rockies bullpen pitchers Mike Dunn and Scott Oberg, tightening up the game to make it 5-4. Wade Davis also gave up a run in the ninth to tie the contest up at 5-5, where it sat until Jesse Winker hit the second home run of his season, to give the Reds their lone win of the series, in the 13th inning.
Tyler Anderson struggled a bit early, giving up three hits and a run in the first two innings, but overall, he pitched very well. Anderson’s slider was working batters, as he used it to help strike out five Reds on the afternoon, going 7.0 innings, with five hits allowed.
For the Rockies offense, the hits came early and often, which was a theme of the series. After DJ LeMahieu reached on a throwing error in the first inning, Carlos Gonzalez scored the second baseman despite hitting into a double play. That marked the 57th first inning run for Colorado, the most in the MLB.
Cincinnati tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the second when Adam Duvall singled and Curt Casali doubled to send him home.
But, the Rockies took the lead back in the third inning after LeMahieu doubled and Gonzalez smoked a single up the middle to score him.
Then, Colorado padded the lead a bit in the fourth inning when the Rockies ran the suicide squeeze, having Mike Tauchman take off from third base on the pitch and Anderson was able to lay down a bunt to score him. There was a bit a wackiness on that particular play as Tony Wolters slid into second base and then popped back up, got into the way of the throw and broke up the double play, which the umpires reviewed and deemed a clean play even though it looked like interference. Mid-way through the fourth inning, Colorado led 3-1.
While Anderson was able to keep his pitch count low, the same couldn’t be said for Tyler Mahle, as he allowed a Rockies runner to reach every inning through five, and his day came to an end at the end of that inning.
After earning two outs in the fifth, Anderson gave up a second run of the day when Scott Schebler doubled to score Billy Hamilton, who reached on an infielder’s choice, bringing the contest to 3-2 Rockies. With Schebler on second, Arenado dove to his right to snag a grounder, then threw from his knees to end the inning and keep the Rockies in the lead.
Colorado got that run back when Ryan McMahon hit the first triple of his career, scoring Tauchman in the top of the sixth, and then McMahon scored as LeMahieu hit a sacrifice fly. 5-2 Rockies, mid-sixth.
After pitching lights-out through seven innings, Anderson was pulled and that’s when the Rockies’ bullpen had the wheels fall off. Dunn entered the game in the eighth inning, allowing a hit and walking two batters to load the bases with zero outs. Oberg then came to the mound, giving up two runs, but worked out of the inning as the Rockies held onto the 5-4 lead. Oberg was saved when he allowed a hit with two outs, but Gonzalez gunned down Eugenio Suarez at the plate, which would have tied the game.
Even Davis struggled in the ninth, hitting a batter and then throwing a wild pitch in the inning, which advanced runners to second and third base. But, Davis then threw a second wild pitch in the inning, allowing the Reds to tie it up at 5-5, with two outs.
Colorado fell to 32-30 on the season, trailing by a half-game in the NL West to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Tomorrow, Colorado is back home to Coors Field to face those pesky Diamondbacks. That game’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MT.