Veen gets the call but Rockies drop series to Brewers
After the first two games of the Colorado Rockies series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the organization’s urgency to make changes looked to be pertinent. But thanks to a scrappy 7-2 win to avoid the sweep, a 2-1 series loss to a Brewers team that has made the postseason six out of the last seven years will suffice.
Game one on Tuesday, April 8, was dominated by the Brew Crew, 7-1, in Zac Veen’s highly anticipated major league debut. It marked the club’s second prospect call-up just 12 games into the season, following the footsteps of Chase Dollander, who made his first career start last Sunday.
Kyle Freeland got his third start of the year and threw an even 100 pitches, giving up five across six and a third innings. He fell a run shy of his 100th career quality start and ended up recording the loss on the night.
Colorado’s only score came from Brenton Doyle’s second homer of the year, with four other players recording a hit including Veen’s first career knock with a bunt ground ball.
The Rox were 2-8 going into what should be their worst overall performance on the season. Milwaukee put up 17 runs off 13 hits and 15 RBIs. Four of the six Rockies pitchers gave up runs, including six given up by Seth Havorsen in one out.
Brewers’ 21-year-old Jackson Chourio had a night, going 3-for-5 with a homer and five ribbies. Ryan McMahon had his second blast of the year in the third inning, along with another RBI from Doyle.
The series finale on Thursday, April 10, had the Rockies trailing by 19 runs across the set. Doyle, who had nearly been the only spark at the plate thus far, had one of the best games of his career, going 3-for-5 with a career-high-tying five RBIs, including a leadoff home run.
It was a 2-2 game going into the bottom of the eighth when the Rockies sent every hitter to the plate and pushed across five runs, courtesy of Michael Toglia, Doyle and Veen’s first career RBI.
Colorado’s Ryan Feltner notched his eighth consecutive start of five or more innings pitched while giving up two runs or fewer. That streak is the third-longest active run in the major leagues, joining an exclusive club with stars like New York Mets’ Kodai Senga (10) and Freddy Peralta (6), who started for the Brewers in game one of this series.
Relief pitcher Jake Bird gave up his first runs of the season in the seventh. He had been the only Rockies' pitcher with a 0.00 earned run average (ERA) coming into the afternoon. However, it was Scott Alexander who picked up the win with a shutout in the eighth inning, evening out his record to 1-1.
McMahon and Toglia combined for five hits in game three, a good sign for Toglia who had been very disappointing early on.
The game three win helped the Rockies avoid their tenth loss of the season. They have a tough road ahead with a 3-9 record headed into a six-game road trip against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers and Padres were the first two teams to reach 10 wins this season.
the Rockies begin their series against San Diego on Friday, April 11. First pitch is 7:40 p.m. MT.