DENVER — The Rockies’ thin starting pitching corps was undoubtedly the team’s weakest link entering the season. An ugly 10-5 loss to the Nationals on Friday night at Coors Field offered proof of that.
One game after lefty Kyle Freeland pitched a gem in the Rockies’ 1-0 victory, right-hander Jose Urena melted down and was gone in the third inning. The drop-off from Freeland to Urena was striking and Urena was greeted with a smattering of boos from the crowd of 30,869.
The Rockies, as they are apt to do in LoDo, rallied late, scoring three runs in the seventh against Washington’s vulnerable bullpen. The big hits were a run-scoring double by rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and an RBI single by Kris Bryant to score Tovar. Bryant finished 1 for 4, extending his hitting streak to eight games.
Washington, however, came back with two runs in the eighth against reliever Dinelson Lamet, who served up a double to Joey Meneses and RBI singles to Dominic Smith and Keibert Ruiz. Washington pounded out 19 hits.
Early season statistics are often misleading, but not in Urena’s case. His 14.40 ERA over two starts accurately illustrates just how poorly he’s pitched. In his first start at San Diego, he gave up four runs on five hits (one homer) and walked three in 2 1/3 innings. Friday night, he regressed: six runs (four earned) on seven hits (two homers) and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. He threw 71 pitches before manager Bud Black pulled him.
The Nationals, dominated in the series opener on Thursday, got back-to-back homers from Alex Call and Jeimer Candelario to open the game. Then Urena gave up three singles and walked in a run in Washington’s two-run second.
The Nationals added two more runs in the third, the door left open by a two-out error by third baseman Elehuris Montero, who’s looked very shaky in the field. CJ Abrams drove in both runs with a triple.
The speedy Abrams tripled in another run in Washington’s two-run fifth, lining the ball to right field off of lefty reliever Ty Blach.
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore gave the Nationals six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two and striking out six. His one big mistake was hanging a 2-2 slider to Ryan McMahon in the second. McMahon, who hit a ball into the third deck above right field during batting practice, crushed to pitch to right-center field for a 443-foot solo homer. It was McMahon’s second homer of the season.
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