Rockies lose to Diamondbacks again, start season 0-2 as Cal Quantrill struggles

PHOENIX — The CliffNotes’ version of the Rockies’ 7-3 loss Friday night: Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly dazzled, Rockies starter Cal Quantrill struggled.

And so the Rockies have opened the 2024 season 0-2, outscored by the D-backs 23-4 at Chase Field.

Quantrill, acquired from Cleveland in a trade in November, pitched five innings and gave up five runs on nine hits. The right-hander walked one and struck out one. In his 6 2/3 innings, Kelly gave up three hits, struck out eight and walked one.

The Diamondbacks hammered back-to-back, two-out homers off Quantrill in the first for a 2-0 lead. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. sent Quantill’s 2-0 cutter deep into the D-backs’ bullpen beyond left field. Christian Walker lined a 3-2 sinker into the left-field seats. His homer rocketed off the bat at 111.7 mph.

Colorado cut Arizona’s lead in half on catcher Elias Diaz’s one-out solo homer to left field in the second inning. Ezequiel Tovar followed with a single, but Kelly picked him off first base. From that point on, Kelly found his groove and retired 15 batters in a row.

Arizona increased its lead to 3-1 in the third when it manufactured a run. Ketel Marte led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a flyball to center, and scored on Joc Pederson’s high-chopping infield single.

Theoretically, the Rockies still had a pulse when Quantrill departed with two men on and no outs in the sixth. But reliever Jake Bird, a reliable workhorse last season, gave up a run-scoring single to Eugenio Suarez, followed by an enormous three-run homer to right by Alex Thomas.

The Rockies scored twice in the eighth on a single by Brenton Doyle and a triple by Charlie Blackmon, who scored on a wild pitch.

The Rockies struck out 11 times, with Kris Bryant and Brendan Rodgers both fanning three times.