On a night when ace was uncharacteristically bad, yielding seven runs, the stumbling Rockies needed their underperforming offense to answer the bell.
Colorado’s bats nearly did that, but a six-run, fifth-inning rally Monday night at Coors Field wasn’t enough as the Atlanta Braves took the series opener 8-6 and extended the Rockies’ losing streak to four games.
“I didn’t have command of my fastball glove-side like I normally do, the slider was flat and I couldn’t get on top of it or down in the zone,” Freeland said. “And that’s why the result is what it is.”
Fresh off a demoralizing sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Rockies had gotten walloped by an alarming average margin of 4.57 runs per defeat in their seven losses coming into Monday. It appeared the uncompetitive trend would continue against right-hander Julio Teheran and Atlanta.
Freeland, a tactical southpaw who thrives off weak contact, wasn’t sharp from the outset. The first three balls the Braves put in play all came off the bat at 105 mph or greater, the highlight of which was 2018 National League rookie of the year Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 111 mph, two-run homer to put Atlanta up 2-0.
“When you don’t have your two best pitches in your arsenal, things are going to go sideways quick,” Freeland said.
Two more runs in the third inning, plus a fifth inning that featured Dansby Swanson’s two-run triple before the shortstop scored on a wild pitch, ended Freeland’s rough evening, which was also blemished by four walks (one intentional).
But the Rockies, who were getting no-hit by Teheran at that point, responded in the bottom of the fifth inning with their biggest inning of the season so far.
Josh Fuentes’ leadoff single got Colorado going. And after ‘s sacrifice fly brought Fuentes home and put the Rockies on the board, blasted a two-run homer. followed with a three-run shot, his fourth on the year, to cut the score to 7-6.
“We talk a lot about stringing hits together, and that’s what we did in that inning,” manager Bud Black said. “And Mark’s capable of (sparking us) — that’s the role we envisioned him in, to come off the bench and impact the game with a swing. He did that with that homer when we were down 7-1 at the time.”
, Colorado’s other feel-good big-league story along with Fuentes, allowed one run in one-plus inning of relief, and was followed by two scoreless innings by and a three-strikeout ninth by .
In the meantime, Colorado’s offense couldn’t rise up again — the closest the Rockies came was when flied out to the warning track with one on and two outs in the seventh inning — as the Braves’ bullpen blanked them for the final four frames.
Colorado has now lost eight of its last nine games.
“We have to try to focus on the positive things that came out of this,” catcher Chris Iannetta said. “It was a bad game at the plate for me personally (at 0-for-4 with three strikeouts), but I’ll go back and try to take positives out of it, even if it’s a good swing I took in a particular at-bat. … That’s what I’m focused on, and that’s what everyone should be focusing on to turn the tide on this.”
On Deck
Braves LHP Max Fried (1-0, 0.00 ERA) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (1-0, 0.69), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
TV: ATTRM Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Fried, a 25-year-old southpaw, has been an asset for the Braves in the rotation and out of the bullpen over the past couple of seasons. He’s coming off his first start of 2019 in a six-inning, one-hit shutout performance against the Cubs on April 4 and has faced the Rockies only once in his career, as a rookie in 2017, in which he was hit for three runs in two-plus innings of relief at Coors Field. Meanwhile, Marquez has looked practically untouchable so far with 14 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched. Atlanta is hitting .250 with a homer in 36 at-bats against the right-hander.
Trending: With still time to make something out of the opening homestand against Atlanta, Colorado already found itself in dark statistical territory coming into the series. The club’s seven losses within the first 10 games of the season were the second-most in franchise history, behind dropping eight of the first 10 in 2005.
At issue: Kyle Freeland posted a 3.00 ERA in 33 opening innings last year, the best of any regular in the Rockies rotation, but 2019 has been a different story so far. Through three starts (including Monday), Freeland has allowed five runs (four earned) for a 12.00 ERA.
Upcoming pitching matchups
Wednesday: Braves RHP Kevin Gausman (1-0, 0.0) at Rockies TBA, 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Rockies Jon Gray (0-2, 5.68) at Giants LHP Jeff Samardzija (0-0, 2.79), 7:45 p.m., ATTRM
Friday: Rockies RHP Chad Bettis (0-2, 11.88) at Giants LHP Drew Pomeranz (0-1, 4.00), 8:15 p.m., ATTRM
