MILWAUKEE — It was a perfect game.
Not in the Sandy Koufax sense of the term, but certainly for what the Rockies were dreaming of when they opened their season Monday afternoon.
The Rockies pounded the Milwaukee Brewers 10-0 at Miller Park, getting seven shutout innings from newcomer Kyle Kendrick in the most impressive opening-day victory in club history. They cranked out 16 hits, including two-run homers by Corey Dickerson and Nolan Arenado.
“Our confidence is out the roof, for sure,” said Dickerson, who drove in four runs. “I think other teams see this lineup and know it’s dangerous. We are a confident team.”
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How good a day was it for the Rockies? According to Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Dickerson broke his bat on his line-drive home run. Dickerson claimed otherwise, but the raw power he displayed was symbolic of the Rockies’ onslaught.
For a team that limped to a 21-60 road record last season, Monday’s romp was a welcome changeup. Colorado scored 10 runs or more in a road game just twice last season. Monday’s game produced the most runs the Rockies have ever scored in an opening-day road game.
Kendrick, , not only pitched seven shutout innings, he went 2-for-4 with a double and scored a run. He mixed and matched his pitches masterfully, relying primarily on sinkers and changeups thrown over the inside corner.
“This was great, but I just came in here thinking I’d do what I did in (Philadelphia), and that’s give my team a chance to win,” said Kendrick, who credited catcher Nick Hundley for devising the game plan that kept Milwaukee hitters off balance. “You don’t really think about the results, you just go out and execute pitches. Today it really worked out.”
Rafael Betancourt and Christian Friedrich each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to preserve just the second shutout on opening day in Rockies history. The other came against the Cardinals in 2001 at Coors Field.
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Kendrick escaped one jam, in the second inning when Milwaukee trailed 4-0 but loaded the bases with one out. Kendrick, whom Rockies manager Walt Weiss refers to as a surgeon, threw an 82 mph changeup to Jean Segura, who grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
“He got some traffic in that second inning, but he didn’t get rattled,” Weiss said. “He made a pitch to get the double play. That was real big — to keep the momentum on our side.”
The Rockies blew the game open 10-0 by the fourth inning, prompting Milwaukee fans to start chanting “Let’s Go Badgers!” in anticipation of Monday night’s NCAA championship basketball game in Indianapolis between Wisconsin and Duke. A big chunk of the announced crowd of 46,032 at Miller Park had left by the seventh-inning stretch.
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Colorado players boasted all spring that their lineup could mash with anybody. They didn’t wait to tattoo Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse, scoring four runs on four hits in the first inning. Back-to-back doubles from Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki produced the first run, and a double by Arenado drove in Tulo. Up to the plate stepped Dickerson, who lined Lohse’s 1-2 fastball into the right-field seats for a 4-0 lead.
Lohse was gone by the fourth inning, having allowed a career- worst eight earned runs.
The Rockies hope they have started something big.
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
Grand opening act
The Rockies rolled to a 10-0 opening-day victory. Some highlights:
• It was the second opening-day shutout in Rockies history, and their first on the road.
• Starter Kyle Kendrick threw a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 27 batters he faced.
• Third baseman Nolan Arenado had three hits and four RBIs, matching career highs.
• Left fielder Corey Dickerson hit a home run and a double and matched his career high with four RBIs.
• The Rockies’ 16 hits matched their most ever at Milwaukee.
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
Looking ahead
Rockies’ Jordan Lyles (7-4, 4.33 ERA in 2014) vs. Brewers’ Matt Garza (8-8, 3.64), 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, ROOT; 850 AM
Lyles didn’t expect to be in the Rockies’ starting rotation at the beginning of last season. He got his position because Tyler Chatwood pulled a hamstring late in spring training. But Lyles is in the rotation now, armed with a better changeup, a better curveball and more confidence. The right- hander is 2-3 with a 3.64 ERA in six games (one start) vs. Milwaukee, all while playing with Houston from 2011-13. He is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in three games (one start) at Miller Park. Garza is 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA in five starts vs. the Rockies.
Wednesday: Rockies’ Eddie Butler (1-1, 6.75 ERA in 2014) vs. Brewers’ Wily Peralta (17-11, 3.54), 6:10 p.m., ROOT
Thursday: Off
Friday: Cubs’ Travis Wood (9-13, 5.03) vs. Rockies’ Tyler Matzek (6-11, 4.05), 2:10 p.m., ROOT
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
