DENVER — Boo birds and sarcastic claps littered Coors Field on Wednesday, marking a fitting soundtrack for a miserable Rockies performance.
The Rockies were blasted, 16-4, on an otherwise sunny afternoon after starting pitcher Jose Urena failed to get out of the second inning. He was erratic (three walks), ineffective (nine hits), and bore the brunt of responsibility while the Rangers sprayed his pitches all over Coors Field.
“Yeah, it is frustrating, but you gotta keep your mind right,” Urena said.
Applause came rarely, and sometimes only in the event that Urena found the strike zone. The game was effectively over about eight innings before it formally ended.
“When Jose’s right, like he was last start, everything’s down at the knees with action,” manager Bud Black said. “… He was off today.”
By the time Black mercifully pulled Urena, 1 1/3 innings officially in the books, he’d thrown 60 pitches and Texas had already plated nine runs. The biggest blow of the Rangers’ seven-run second inning came via Mark Mathias’ bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to left center field. That prompted scattered boos. Black emerged from the first-base dugout shortly thereafter.
Relief pitcher Austin Gomber was as valuable as Urena was awful. Had he not gobbled up 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one hit, Wednesday’s result would’ve gotten even uglier.
“I’m definitely aware of the situation, coming in in the second inning … I just have to eat innings,” Gomber said.
It only got (slightly) more respectable after a momentary spurt in the bottom of the seventh. The Rockies got their first run off Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly to deep center. Feel-good center fielder Wynton Bernard legged out an infield single that helped score another. After an RBI single from Connor Joe, Bernard came around on a wild pitch. For one half of an inning, Coors Field had juice. But that was it.
Outside of two spectacular defensive plays, one from McMahon on a pop-up in foul territory, and another on a diving catch from Randal Grichuk in right, the Rockies’ defense misplayed several balls that would’ve saved them runs. Not that it much mattered with the early nine-run deficit and their meager bats.
The loss dropped the Rockies to 54-71 and marred what had been a promising (3-2) homestand. Thursday, they’ll head east for the start of their longest road trip of the season: an 11-day, 10-game odyssey that will see stops in New York and Atlanta, two likely playoff-bound teams.
If the Rockies thought Rangers starting pitcher Martin Perez was a bear, they’ll get no reprieve as they take on Mets ace Jacob deGrom on Thursday. Perez pitched six innings of sparkling baseball, scattering four hits and striking out seven.
