The Colorado Rockies suffered their biggest loss of the 2017 season Wednesday night at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks, 16-5, at Coors Field. The loss dropped Colorado out of first place in the NL West, as the LA Dodgers defeated the New York Mets. A 10-run fourth inning spelled doom for Colorado early.
Rockies right-handed rookie Jeff Hoffman (4-1, 4.29 ERA) suffered his first loss of year, allowing nine earned runs in the fourth and ballooning his ERA more than two full points in one outing. Fourteen different Diamondbacks came to the plate (including an intentional walk) in the 10-run fourth. Jordan Lyles could not stop the bleeding in relief of Hoffman, allowing two of Hoffman’s runs to score and another of his own before the inning was done. Every Rockies pitcher surrendered at least two earned runs on the night – nine from Hoffman, three by Lyles, two by Carlos Estevez and two by Mike Dunn. Colorado surrendered a season-high 20 hits in the loss. David Peralta and Brandon Drury each had four hits for Arizona. Peralta scored four runs while Drury had six RBIs on the night.
Despite the struggles on the mound, Colorado managed to put up five runs against Taijuan Walker (6-3, 3.43) and the D-Backs bullpen. DJ LeMahieu had three hits in the game to raise his average to .304 for the season. He’s one of four (qualified) Rockies hitting above .300, including Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds. Raimel Tapia hit his first major league triple and Reynolds had a solo home run in the second inning.
Colorado and Arizona will square off in the rubber match on Thursday afternoon at Coors Field. Antonio Senzatela (9-2 , 4.10) will try to crack the 10-win barrier against Zack Godley (2-1 , 2.34 ERA). Colorado heads to Los Angeles immediately after the game for a three-game series with the division-leading Dodgers over the weekend.
