Take a bow Ryan Feltner, you are officially a slump buster.
The Rockies right-hander pitched a gem Thursday night and got an early boost from C.J. Cron in a 5-0 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The victory snapped Colorado’s eight-game losing skid, its longest losing streak since dropping nine straight from Aug. 27-Sept. 4, 2019.
Feltner has good stuff. The metrics say so, as do the Rockies, even though Feltner entered Thursday’s game 0-2 with an unsightly 8.78 ERA and a track record of going off the rails the second or third time through a lineup.
But the right-hander stayed solidly on track, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings and limiting the Phillies to three hits while fanning six and walking three.
Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm baffled most of the Rockies, hence his 11 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, but he couldn’t fool Cron with a 3-1 slider in the first inning. Cron crushed the pitch for a two-run, line-drive homer to left, scoring Jurickson Profar, who led off the game with a walk. It was Cron’s fifth home run.
Colorado scored twice more in the sixth on singles by Ryan McMahon and Cron, and an RBI single by Elias Diaz off erratic reliever Andrew Bellatti, who also issued a bases-loaded walk to Alan Trejo to force in another run.
Rockies reliever Justin Lawrence pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings and fanned four, passing big tests in the sixth and seventh innings.
Philly loaded the bases in the sixth with a single by Kyle Schwarber and a walk by Brandon Marsh, leading manager Bud Black to pull Feltner. Lawrence, the sidearmer right-hander, came in only to see J.T. Realmuto load the bases with an infield single that died between the mound and third base. That was no problem for Lawrence, who struck out Alex Bohm looking helpless as an 86.5 mph sweeper cut across the plate.
Philly put two men on in the seventh with a leadoff double by Trea Turner and a walk by Brandon Marsh but Lawrence struck out Bohm to end the inning. Lawrence, a bright spot early in Colorado’s difficult early season, has a 2.45 ERA.
Marquez update
Right-hander German Marquez, working through right forearm inflammation, threw a full bullpen session in Philadelphia on Thursday and reported no pain in his forearm. Marquez worked through his entire arsenal of pitches and is scheduled to throw another bullpen on Sunday. He could rejoin Colorado’s rotation next week.
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