For the first time in the team’s history the Colorado Rockies earned a series sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend and inched their record closer to the .500 mark. The three-game sweep brought Colorado to 22-26 on the season, thanks in large part to the bullpen.
On Monday, Colorado enters a three-day series with the Dodgers, which includes a doubleheader on Tuesday, with the opportunity to reach .500 by mid-week.
It will be a tall task for the Rockies, who will face Clayton Kershaw in the first game of the series.
But following this weekend, the Rockies seem ready to stand up to such a task.
Yes, Philadelphia brought MLB’s most anemic offense into the series and didn’t help themselves by being nearly no-hit on Friday night against Colorado’s Chad Bettis, but the Rockies had some major challenges of their own to overcome.
Bettis had his start moved up as Jordan Lyles’ Friday start was delayed as he battles a lingering toe injury. Bettis responded with the best performance of his young career.
Highlights of the near no-no thanks to Root Sports and mlb.com:
Eddie Butler also had his schedule thrown off-kilter when Jorge De La Rosa was scratched from a second consecutive start on Saturday due to a cut on his finger. Butler went six innings, allowing just one run in the 5-2 victory. John Axford earned his ninth save in as many attempts on the season. Axford has not allowed an earned run in his last nine appearances and now carries an 0.64 ERA on the season.
Nolan Arenado hit his third home run of the series to tie the game in the second inning. Root Sports and mlb.com provide the highlight:
The bullpen was forced into yeoman’s work again on Sunday when Lyles was forced out of the game in the second inning with continued issues with his left big toe. Chris Rusin carried most of the load, going 4.2 innings until loading the bases with no outs in the seventh. Brooks Brown came in to strike out the next three batters and end the threat. Christian Friedrich pitched a clean eighth, including a strikeout of Ryan Howard, and Scott Oberg closed out the game to earn his first Major League save.
Arenado hit his team-leading 12th home run of the season. Highlights courtesy of mlb.com and Root Sports:
Stability has been all but absent from the Rockies starting rotation this season, including with Monday’s starter, Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick is yet to miss a start, but his results have been mixed, at best, throughout the first two months.
De La Rosa is scheduled for Tuesday, so Walt Weiss will need Kendrick to get deep into tonight’s matchup with Kershaw. There’s no telling how quickly he may need to go to the pen on Tuesday and beyond.