The Colorado Rockies suffered yet another walk-off loss on Sunday as the Cardinals took the final game of a four-game series in St. Louis over the weekend on a Brandon Moss single. Two of the Rockies’ three losses in the series came in walk off fashion; it was their third such loss on the week.
Scott Oberg (2-2) took the loss as Colorado seeks an answer for late-game pitching after seeing closer John Axford lose the job following a string of five consecutive losses and/or blown saves from July 20 – 30.
St. Louis needed just one out in the ninth inning to secure the 3-2 win on Sunday. After a leadoff groundout by Jhonny Peralta, Jason Heyward doubled and Randal Grichuk singled to set up Moss’ game winner.
Grichuk and Heyward combined in the bottom of the fifth inning to open the scoring, with Heyward scoring on Grichuk’s home run after a leadoff single. Colorado responded in the next frame with an RBI double by Ben Paulsen to score D.J. LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado scoring on a wild pitch, but that was all the offense the Rockies could muster on the day against five St. Louis pitchers.
Yohan Flande went five innings for the Rockies, allowing four hits and just the two runs on the Grichuk home run, striking out three and walking none. Flande’s ERA now sits at 3.67, the lowest among Rockies starters. Flande has been forced into starting duty with Chad Bettis on the 15-day DL and will likely stay there as Kyle Kendrick was also added to the 15-day DL over the weekend. Kendrick lasted just one inning in his start on Friday before getting pulled due to shoulder inflammation.
With the rotation still in a state of upheaval, Colorado called up the club’s top 2013 (third overall) draft pick, Jon Gray, who will make his Major League debut against Seattle on Tuesday. Gray is 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA for Triple-A Albuquerque this year. He has one complete game in 20 starts.
Colorado begins a short three-game homestand Monday against the Mariners before heading out on the road for a week against the Nationals and Mets. Eddie Butler (3-7) faces a tough task as he squares off against Felix Hernandez (12-6). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MDT.
