DENVER — A promising homestand ended with a dud on Wednesday at Coors Field, when the Rockies forgot their bats at home.
Houston two-hit the home team to beat the Rockies, 4-1, splitting the two-game series and erasing the feel-good vibes from Colorado’s series win over the Yankees to start the second half of the season.
“We got out-pitched and out-hit by the world champions, but we’ll keep going,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “We play a good team in Miami this weekend, and they’ll be ready to bounce back after a tough series (sweep) by the Cardinals. But we’ve got to hit better, no question.”
Austin Gomber was solid for five innings before Chas McCormick broke open the low-scoring affair with a two-run homer, and Gomber got zero run support a day after the Rockies bullpen tossed a club-record eight scoreless innings in a 4-3 win.
Gomber and Astros right-hander Brandon Bielak sailed through the first couple innings, but the Rockies southpaw ran into trouble in the third, when Mauricio Dubón’s RBI double made it 1-0.
After that, Gomber settled back in to put up zeros in the fourth and fifth innings, working around a baserunner in both frames. But the quality start went sour in the sixth, when Houston plated three runs to take a commanding 4-0 lead, especially based off how poorly Colorado was swinging the bat.
“Gomber knew that part of the game was critical because of how we were being shut down by their guy,” Black said.
Kyle Tucker led off the fourth with a double to right-center, and José Abreu’s RBI single brought him home. The next batter, Chas McCormick pumped Gomber’s slider 405-feet into the left-center bleachers, prompting Gomber to yell at himself as he stomped around the mound, hanging his head.
“It was down and in — I threw the pitch were I wanted to throw it, it was probably just the wrong pitch,” Gomber said. “That’s part of the frustration, too. If I could do it again, I probably would’ve thrown a change-up there.”
Gomber said his confidence grew again on Wednesday despite taking the loss, as the southpaw had spun three straight quality starts coming in.
“The biggest thing for me in the past month is commanding my fastball, and not being so reliant all the time on having to land (all my offspeed) for a strike,” Gomber said. “I feel like I did that again today. They just put really put quality at-bats on me all day, and then finally got to me in the sixth.”
The Rockies’ offense, meanwhile, was lifeless until the very last moment.
Colorado rolled out three rookies in its starting lineup and only registered one hit off Bielak through 5 2/3 innings, Michael Toglia’s infield single in the second, while failing to capitalize on three walks and a hit batsman. It was the second gem Bielak’s thrown against Colorado this month, as he also shoved for seven shutout innings, and allowed just two hits, in the Astros’ 4-1 win in Houston on July 4.
“This is the second time that he’s gotten to us,” Black said. “He’s got a sneaky fastball with some cut, decent sink, plus a decent breaking ball and he moved the ball around the zone. We hit a couple balls on the nose to shortstop today, but that was about it.”
Colorado didn’t fare much better against the visiting bullpen.
Rafael Montero pitched a scoreless seventh for Houston, then fellow right-handers Ryne Stanek and Ryan Pressly finished slamming the door on the Rockies, who struck out eight times and couldn’t generate consistent hard contact against any of the Astros’ arms save for C.J. Cron’s 444-foot solo bomb to center off Pressly in the ninth.
In injury news, Black said that outfielder Kris Bryant, who was hit by Bielak’s fastball in the forearm in the fourth inning, is OK. Bryant exited the game for his final at-bat, with Nolan Jones pinch-hitting for him. Black said Bryant’s X-rays came back negative.
“He got hit in the forearm and it started to tighten a little bit, so he wasn’t able to effectively grip the bat, which is why we pulled him,” Black said. “But he should be fine.”
Roster move
Ahead of Wednesday’s matinee, the Rockies re-instated left-hander Brent Suter from the 15-day injured list and designated left-hander Fernando Abad for assignment. Suter had a 2.81 ERA in 31 games prior to suffering an oblique strain, and he tossed a scoreless ninth inning against the Astros. Meanwhile, the waiving of Abad, who on Tuesday got his first MLB win since 2017, continues Colorado’s pitching churn.
