Tyler Matzek wriggled out of trouble Tuesday against the Padres at Coors Field. (Justin Edmonds, Getty Images)
Tyler Matzek once saved a school of dolphins who were guiding a ship full of orphans to shore. It must be good karma that got him out of an ugly fifth inning Tuesday when the Padres should have broken the game open.
After the Rockies scored twice in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2, Matzek put them an another hole quickly to start the fifth against the bottom of San Diego’s lineup. He walked Clint Barmes on six pitches. Then he walked Brandon Morrow on five pitches — it was the first time in Morrow’s nine-year career he’s ever been on base.
Matzek allowed four base runners in the fifth. And none scored. Matt Kemp grounded into a double play to kill the inning. Matzek left after the fifth with a 5-2 lead.
But the Rockies are riding a thin line of trouble with their starting pitchers.
Jorge De La Rosa’s misfired start Monday for the Rockies at least gave them back their ace arm. But his delayed debut, after he recovered from a groin injury, may have been doomed before his first pitch.
For every five strikeouts Rockies starters have thrown this season, they walk four. Colorado’s rotation has a baseball-worst 1.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio. They have 52 strikeouts and 42 walks. New York Mets starters, on the other end, throw nearly seven K’s for every walk.
“Walks get you in trouble,” Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster said Sunday. “You have to get into pitching counts. Strike one is imperative.”
The Rockies needed a first-pitch strike from De La Rosa. It may be why the Padres pounced on him early. San Diego swung early and pounded De La Rosa for nine hits and nine runs (seven earned) in two innings.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss said De La Rosa’s problem wasn’t forcing a first-pitch strike but not surviving long enough to use his late-count pitches.
“With Jorge, he’s got a very good changeup. It looked to me like their approach was they didn’t want to wait for that changeup,” Weiss said. “So they ambushed him. And the fastball location wasn’t what it usually is. It was up. So they got some fastballs to hit early in counts.
“That was their approach — to fire early and not wait around for that swing-and-miss pitch.”
Tags: Clint Barmes, Jorge De La Rosa, New York Mets, Padres, pitchers, pitching, San Diego Padres, Steve Foster, strikeouts, Tyler Matzek
