Glendale, Ariz. — It was not a command performance for Rockies right-hander Jordan Lyles.
His four innings against the White Sox on Tuesday afternoon were cluttered with five runs (all officially unearned), two hits, a walk and two hit batters.
The Rockies led the Chicago 7-6 through eight innings at Camelback Ranch.
The fourth inning was a mess. (See video). Lyles plunked Melky Cabrera and Jose Abreu to open the inning and was then hurt by a rare error by second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who let Adam LaRoche’s grounder get through to right field. Lyles got two outs before Gordon Beckham rapped a two-run double and Tyler Flowers hit a two-run homer.
Still, Lyles induced eight groundball outs and said he feels confident despite throwing just 55 pitches. He had hoped to raise his pitch count to 70.
“I feel good,” Lyles said. “I think where I’m at now is strides ahead of where I was last year at this time. I can say that with confidence. A lot of that has to do with my changeup, and I was working on my curveball today. I threw some good ones and some bad ones.”
Hits
* Wilin Rosario, starting at catcher, went 2-for-4 and hit a run-scoring single in the fifth, giving him nine this spring, second only to Nolan Arenado’s 11. Rosario is hitting .324.
* Right-hander Christian Bergman, a long shot to make the starting rotation, had pitched three scoreless innings through eight innings, allowing two hits and striking out one.
Misses
* Outfielder Drew Stubbs is striking out at a very high rate. He whiffed in his first two at-bats Tuesday, giving him 17 strikeouts in 33 spring at-bats. Stubbs then drew walk in the fifth and another in the sixth.
* Hard-throwing right-handed reliever Jairo Diaz saw his 3-0 fastball get crushed to deep center for a home run by Abreu in the fifth.
Up Next
The Rockies host the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants at Salt Rivers Fields in a 2:10 (MDT) game. Right-hander Eddie Butler, making a bid for a spot in the starting rotation, starts for the Rockies opposite right-hander Tim Hudson. Other pitchers for Colorado include: LHP Christian Friedrich; RHP LaTroy Hawkins; RHP John Axford; RHP Rafael Betancourt and LHP Rex Brothers.
Tags: Drew Stubbs, Jordan Lyles, Wilin Rosario
