Milwaukee – Déjà vu?
The Rockies hope not, but their current road trip is looking eerily similar to their last trip when they went 1-9, losing game after game in every conceivable manner.
This afternoon at Miller Park, the Rockies rallied for a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh, only to lose 4-3 when the Brewers pounced on reliever Jeremy Affeldt in the bottom of the inning.
Geoff Jenkins greeted Affeldt with a leadoff double and scored on pinch-hitter Kevin Mench’s triple down the right-field line. Mench scored on Affeldt’s wild pitch.
Brad Hawpe’s solo homer in the eighth, his 16th of the season, closed the gap to 4-3, but it wasn’t enough as the Rockies lost their second straight to Milwaukee. They fell 2-1 in 10-innings Saturday night, despite seven innings of one-hit pitching from starter Rodrigo Lopez.
It was the Rockies” 12th one-run road loss of the season.
The Rockies blew three prime scoring opportunities today, and also wasted a prime effort from starter Aaron Cook.
In the ninth, Chris Iannetta walked, pinch-runner Omar Quintanilla took second on a wild pitch by reliever Francisco Cordero and moved to third on Jamey Carroll’s sacrifice bunt. But Quintanilla was stranded when Ryan Spilborghs struck out and flew out to right, ending the game.
Colorado’s seventh looked like it would be a blowout inning. After pinch-hitter Cory Sullivan drove in Troy Tulowitzki with the tying run, the Rockies loaded the bases with one out. Matt Holliday stepped to the plate looking large and confident. But he grounded into a double play, killing the Rockies” best chance for a big inning.
In the sixth, Holliday and Todd Helton reached on consecutive singles, but Garrett Atkins grounded into a double play and Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan struck out Brad Hawpe, canceling another potential rally.
Suppan’s domination of the Rockies continued. He came in with a 5-1 record and a 3.65 ERA against them. Today, he gave up two runs on five hits in six innings.
Cook, who struggled in his last start, gave the Rockies what they needed. He pitched six solid innings, giving up two runs on four hits. His only rough inning was the fifth. It also was unlucky. After getting two outs, Cook gave up an infield single to Gabe Gross. Cook intentionally walked Tony Graffanino to reach Suppan, but Suppan stuck his bat out over the plate and ended up with an RBI single to right, scoring Gross. Corey Hart followed with a single to left, driving in Graffanino to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the third on Kazuo Matsui’s double to left that scored Chris Iannetta.
Staff Writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
