Bo Bichette happened to the Rockies on Monday night.
The son of Blake Street Bomber Dante Bichette hit two long home runs, added a single, and drove in a career-high six runs as the Blue Jays pulverized Rockies pitching in a 15-1 victory at Coors Field.
Bichette’s big night was the headline, but the Rockies’ reeling rotation was at the heart of their latest defeat.
Lost in a sea of recent feel-good, comeback wins by the Rockies is a harsh truth: Their starting pitching, hurt by injuries, inexperience, and poor performance, is awful. More evidence emerged Monday.
Right-hander Tanner Gordon was bludgeoned for seven runs on 11 hits in just 2 2/3 innings as his ERA climbed to 6.59. Collectively, the Rockies’ rotation has a 6.28 ERA, on pace for the worst in franchise history. The pre-humidor 1999 rotation had a 6.19 ERA.
Asked if the Rockies must get better performances from their starters, and have them pitch deeper into games, manager Warren Schaeffer said, “I think that’s very fair. The whole homestand … we’ve been down early, especially in the first inning. That’s not a good recipe.”
Over their last six games, Rockies starters have posted a 14.85 ERA.
To be fair, right-hander German Marquez, currently on the 15-day injured list with a sore shoulder, had been pitching well before going on the IL on July 21. And right-hander Ryan Feltner, whom the club hoped would be a solid rotation piece, made just six big-league starts before a back injury scuttled his season.
The Blue Jays (66-48), tied with Detroit for the best record in the American League, punished Colorado pitchers for 25 hits, including a 5-for-6 night by shortstop Ernie Clement.
Toronto’s offense is a nice fit for the spacious ballpark in LoDo. The Blue Jays entered the game leading the majors in contact rate (79.2%) and strikeout rate (17.3%), while putting the ball in play on 40.1% of their swings.
“I definitely knew that going in,” Gordon said. “I just tried to make quality pitches, but they put the ball in play. You have to give them credit. But in games like this, you just have to be better and give your team a chance to win. I’m sure that the bullpen doesn’t like me right now.”
The Blue Jays’ 25 hits were a season high, as was their 15 runs. Monday marked the fourth time in franchise history they recorded at least 25 hits in a game. It was the fifth time this season that every player in Toronto’s starting lineup had at least one hit.
Gordon’s start was reminiscent of his last outing in Cleveland when the Guardians ripped him for seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in just three innings. Monday night, the aggressive Blue Jays hitters tagged Gordon early and often.
Nathan Lukes led off the game with a double and scored on Bichette’s single to right. Clement led off the second with a single and took second on Gordon’s wild pitch. Davis Schneider drove him in with a single to left. Considering how well the Rockies have been hitting the ball lately, Toronto’s 2-0 lead seemed like a minor detail.
But the Blue Jays wrecked Colorado pitching for seven runs on seven hits in the third inning. Included in the onslaught was Dalton Varsho’s 451-foot homer to the second deck in right field off Gordon’s 2-1 changeup. Lefty reliever Ryan Rolison replaced Gordon, walked Lukes, and gave up a two-run homer to Bichette. A 2-0 game was suddenly a 9-0 rout.
Toronto’s five-run, six-hit seventh inning off Carson Palmquist, the erstwhile lefty starter, put the game out of reach. Bichette’s second homer of the night was a three-run, 434-foot blast to center off Palmquist, whose ERA soared to 8.91. For Bichette, Monday marked just his third and fourth road homers of the year, and his first homers away from Toronto since May 28 at Texas.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s offense was stifled by soft-tossing Toronto left-hander Eric Lauer. He improved to 6-2 and whittled his ERA to 2.59 with an impressive six-inning performance. He allowed one run on seven hits — six singles and a double by Tyler Freeman. Lauer struck out four and walked only one.
The Rockies scored their lone run in the fifth when Freeman doubled and Ezequiel Tovar drove him home with a single.
“He was pounding the zone, first and foremost,” Freeman said of Lauer. “And he was locating. And he was going soft, away, and coming in with his cutter, and then going up with his heater. When you throw strikes and let your defense play, that’s what happens.”
