The basic facts tell the story:
— The Pirates beat the Rockies 11-4 in front of an announced crowd of 37,293 at Coors Field on Saturday night. Pittsburgh can complete a four-game sweep Sunday afternoon.
— Colorado has lost 11 of its last 13 games and finished August with a 9-19 record, tied with the 2003 club for the worst August in franchise history. That comes after a 6-19 July that ranks as the worst calendar month franchise history.
— With a 59-78 record, the Rockies supplanted the Pirates (59-77) for the second-worst record in the National League. Only the Miami Marlins (48-87) are worse.
— Rockies pitchers had a 6.36 ERA this month, setting a new standard for August pitching ineptitude. The 1995 team’s August ERA of 5.96 was the previous record.
— Colorado allowed 56 home runs in the month, tied for the most in any month in franchise history (also July 1999 and August 2002).
The failure of the front office to stock any quality depth behind the initial starters the team opened the season with continues to haunt the Rockies as they enter the final month of the season.
After Saturday’s game, manager Bud Black was asked if he’s concerned that the poor pitching has begun to affect the rest of his team’s play, or it’s spirit.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect the spirit,” he said. “You saw the last out of the game? Run me through that one. Did you see one of our best players get down the line? And he ran his (butt) off?
Black was talking about all-star shortstop Trevor Story, who grounded out to end the game.
“Now, is it frustrating? Sure, no doubt,” Black continued. “We’re all competitive and we want to win games and you really want to play well. But this is something we talk about.”
Tim Melville, the soft-tossing right-hander who flummoxed Arizona and Atlanta in his first two starts in a Rockies uniform, didn’t fool the Pirates one bit Saturday night. Kevin Newman drilled the game’s first pitch — an 89.8 mph fastball — 426 feet into the left-center field seats. The fastball was center cut.
“That’s not where I wanted it to be (but) that’s how I started the game,” Melville said. “I got exposed for that.”
Melville departed after two innings, having given up five runs (four earned) on six hits, with two walks and one strikeout. He needed 58 pitches to get through two frames. Bryan Reynolds’ two-run double in the second put the Pirates ahead 5-0.
“Today I started the ball up just a little too much and hitters were able to stay in the zone with it, on my slider especially,” Melville said. “This definitely wasn’t one of my A games, where I was on point. But you still have to go out there and compete. And I didn’t do that as well.”
Reliever Wes Parsons, another of Colorado’s pitching projects, surrendered two runs in three innings, victimized by homers by Josh Bell and Jose Osuna in the fourth inning.
In the Pirates’ three-run eighth inning, lefty reliever Jake McGee made a crucial fielding error attempting to cover first base and gave up two doubles.
The Rockies’ offense, meanwhile, did little to bail out the struggling pitchers. Colorado managed just three run on eight hits over six innings against Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrave.
Ryan McMahon launched a solo homer to deep center in the second inning, his 19th. A single by Story, a double by Charlie Blackmon and a sacrifice fly by Nolan Arenado cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-2 in the third. A leadoff triple by rookie outfielder Sam Hilliard and a sacrifice fly by Garrett Hampson produced a run in the fourth.
Daniel Murphy’s solo home run off Parker Markel in the eighth inning accounted for Colorado’s final run. It was Murphy’s 12th home run.
