The Rockies have turned heartbreak into an art form.
For the umpteenth time this season, a late-inning rally against their undependable bullpen cost the Rockies a victory on Saturday night.
The Phillies won 8-4, scoring six runs in the ninth off relievers Jalen Beeks, Justin Lawrence and John Curtiss. The Coors Field crowd of 37,535 fans, many clad in Philly red, held a party.
Beeks committed a cardinal sin by walking leadoff hitter Brandon Marsh. Enter Lawrence, who promptly gave up an RBI triple to Edmundo Sosa, tying the game, 3-3. Garrett Stubbs’ single through the right side scored Sosa for the go-ahead run.
It got worse. Much worse.
Curtiss relieved Lawrence and promptly gave up a three-run homer to Bryce Harper, who sliced his 13th homer of the season just inside the left-field foul pole. The Phillies fans of LoDo serenaded Harper with chants of “MVP! MVP!”
A double by Alec Bohm and an RBI single by Nick Castellanos put a bow on Philly’s comeback.
The painful part for the Rockies, who are now 17-34 and on pace to lose 108 games, is that they are wasting excellent starting pitching.
Behind a solid start from Dakota Hudson, the Rockies looked primed to beat the powerful Phillies for the second night in a row.
Hudson, who’s been the weak link in the rotation chain, pitched a fine game. He held the Phillies to two runs on five hits over six innings. The right-hander has been walk-prone, but he issued just one free pass and fanned two.
Over the last five games, the Rockies have five quality starts and a sparkling 1.93 ERA. Since May 1 (22 games), they have a 3.80 ERA with 12 quality starts. All of that after an April in which Colorado starters posted a 5.81 ERA with just seven quality starts.
Hudson’s night started out a bit rough. Kyle Schwarber led off with a solid single up the middle and scored on Harper’s line-drive single to right.