CINCINNATI — Jason Hammel, who hadn’t lost a game since May 21, didn’t deserve to lose one Friday night.
But he did, no thanks to the Rockies’ bats, which for most of the game forgot to return from the all-star break.
Bronson Arroyo allowed one hit in his first 62/3 innings, an infield single, as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Rockies 3-2 at Great American Ball Park.
The Rockies trailed 3-0 in the seventh before breaking through for the first of their two runs. It would have been worse if not for one of the best catches of the season, a leaping grab by Colorado center fielder Dexter Fowler that robbed Jay Bruce of a three-run homer in the fifth.
Fowler went two feet over the wall in right-center to snatch the ball away from waiting fans. A home run and Hammel would have trailed 5-0. Instead, the Rockies were in the game.
For that matter, they should have tied it or won it in the eighth.
Miguel Olivo opened the inning with a home run into the left-field seats that prompted a review — to no avail, as it turned out — by the umpires. Ian Stewart followed with a walk before Clint Barmes’ single sent Reds manager Dusty Baker to the mound to remove Arroyo.
Arthur Rhodes, who made his first all-star team at age 40, proceeded to walk pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs to load the bases with no outs. But Rhodes got out of the jam, inducing Fowler to hit a short flyball to right before striking out Jonathan Herrera and Carlos Gonzalez.
Hammel, who had won six straight decisions since losing May 21 at Kansas City, was overpowering at times, finishing with a career-high 10 strikeouts. One Reds run scored on a groundout and another was set up by Joey Votto’s pop fly down the left-field line that Stewart, after a long run, couldn’t handle.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
