Tuesday night looked a lot like 2025.
The Rockies’ offense was a no-show against right-hander Kumar Rocker. The Rockies’ pitching got beat like a piñata. The Rangers won, 10-0, at chilly Coors Field in front of 15,916.
The fact that catcher Brett Sullivan pitched the ninth inning for Colorado tells you how bad things got. Sullivan, pitching in the majors for the first time, gave up a walk but got out of the inning with a groundball double play.
“You’ve got to laugh about it and smile about it a little bit,” Sullivan said. “I know a couple of guys over there, and I can talk some crap to them.”
Rocker, who supplanted opener Tyler Alexander in the second inning, pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven. The biggest threat Colorado mounted against Rocker was really no threat at all. In the second inning, Troy Johnston and Tyler Freeman managed back-to-back one-out singles, but Jake McCarthy struck out and Edouard Julien grounded out to second.
Meanwhile, Texas blasted Rockies pitchers for 16 hits, the most the Rockies have surrendered this season.
The game began with lefty Sammy Peralta, who was making his Rockies debut, walking Andrew McCutchen. That’s never a good omen. Two batters later, Peralta plunked Brandon Nimmo, and Josh Jung followed up with a single to load the bases. Ezequiel Duran made Peralta pay, ripping a two-run double to center.
On Peralta’s double, Colorado centerfielder Brenton Doyle dove for the ball and landed hard. He finished the frame but did not return to the game. After the game, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said that Doyle suffered a left-side contusion and would be reevaluated on Wednesday.
Right-hander Tanner Gordon, who replaced Peralta with two outs in the first, had a rough night. Texas ripped him for seven runs on 12 hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five.
Nimmo, who grew up in Cheyenne, hit 3 for 4, including a two-run homer off Gordon in the fourth, and drove in three runs. Duran was 3 for 5 with four RBIs.
The two teams will play on Wednesday afternoon at Coors in the deciding game of the three-game series.
Pitching probables
Wednesday: Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (1-4, 4.35 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-5, 7.22), 1:10 p.m.
Thursday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 4.02) at Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 2.53), 7:40 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
