Sure, it’s early. May 10 to be exact.
But the Rockies now reside in last place in the tough National West. Unless they start playing better baseball on the road, they’ll have to get used to living in the basement.
Playing poorly in all phases of the game Tuesday night, the Rockies lost 9-2 to the Giants at Oracle Park. The Rockies have lost eight of their last nine games away from Coors Field.
“We didn’t pitch great, too many walks,” manager Bud Black said. “We hit a guy to start an inning. You can’t give this team free passes. They’re tough. They really battle, they take their walks, they put the ball in play.”
The Giants have beaten the Rockies nine straight times, and over the last two seasons are 17-4 against them.
Colorado, 1-4 on the current road trip, has a 16-14 record. Arizona, which lost 110 games last season but took two or three from the Rockies over the weekend, is 17-14. The Diamondbacks beat Miami, 9-3, on Tuesday night.
In order to have a chance to beat the Giants and left-hander Alex Wood, the Rockies needed a strong start from Antonio Senzatela. He couldn’t deliver. The right-hander was gone after 3 2/3 innings after the Giants tagged him for five runs on seven hits. His ERA rose from 3.75 to 4.88.
Senzatela’s defense didn’t help him, but Black made it clear that Senzatela didn’t help himself.
“He made some mistakes, too,” Black said. “He can’t walk guys, but like all teams, you have to do everything right to win a game. It just didn’t happen tonight.”
Wood, meanwhile, pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up one unearned run on seven hits, walking two and striking out four. He induced eight groundball outs.
The Rockies entered the game hitting .223 in their last eight road games, with a .217 average with runners in scoring position. They managed 10 hits Tuesday night but went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
“On this trip, we haven’t scored,” Black said. “We had some opportunities to get a knock or two to get us closer, to get us some momentum, but we didn’t get it.”
Senzatela is a low-walk, low-strikeout, high-groundball pitcher. The mixture can work well for him, but it sure didn’t work Tuesday night.
For all intents and purposes, especially considering Colorado’s anemic road offense, the game was decided in the second inning. Senzatela walked Joc Pederson to open the frame, gave up a single to Thairo Estrada and another walk to Brandon Crawford to load the bases. Senzatela was asking for trouble and he found it.
Luis Gonzalez singled home Pederson, Curt Casali singled to right to score Estrada, and when Charlie Blackmon misplayed the ball, Crawford scored. The Giants’ 3-0 lead felt like a three-touchdown margin.
The Giants officially put the game out of reach with a three-run fifth to extend their lead from 5-1 to 8-1. They sent eight batters to the plate.
It was an ugly inning for the Rockies. Reliever Lucas Gilbreath, who was called up and replaced right-hander Justin Lawrence because the Rockies wanted a lefty in the bullpen, struggled mightily. He hit Darin Ruf to open the inning, gave up back-to-back singles to Brandon Crawford and Mauricio Dubon to load the bases, then walked Austin Slater to force in a run. Then Gilbreath walked Curt Casali to force in another run.
The Rockies’ first run came in the fourth. Ryan McMahon led off with a broken-bat single to left and came around to score on Yonathan’s Daza’s double and an error by left fielder Luis Gonzalez.
Daza, Colorado’s best defensive outfielder, has been hitting exceptionally well of late as he gets more playing time. He went 3-for-4 with a triple in the ninth, leaving him a home run short of the cycle. Sam Hilliard drove in Daza with a sacrifice fly for Colorado’s second run. Daza is hitting .370.
The Rockies will try to avoid getting swept when the teams play the third game of the series on Thursday afternoon at Oracle Park.
On Deck
Rockies RHP Chad Kuhl (3-0, 1.82 ERA) at Giants RHP Alex Cobb (1-1, 4.80)
1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oracle Park
TV: ATTRM
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Kuhl has been the Rockies’ best starting pitcher. He has made four consecutive quality starts, the second-longest stretch of his career. Plus, the right-hander has allowed one or fewer runs in four of five starts this season. His 1.82 ERA was tied for the seventh-lowest in the National League entering Tuesday’s play and his 0.84 WHIP was tied for the fourth-best. He’s made three career starts vs. the Giants, going 0-0 with a 3.63 ERA. The last time he faced the Giants was on July 23, 2021, when he was pitching for the Pirates. He allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings and gave up two home runs.
Making his second start since returning from the injured list, Cobb had a strong start vs. the Cardinals, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in five innings. Cobb set down the first 10 hitters he faced but his outing ended when Harrison Bader hit a two-run homer. Cobb, 34, has not pitched past the fifth inning in any of his four starts. Until this season, Cobb had spent his entire career in the American League, so he’s only faced the Rockies once, picking up the win after pitching 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits (including three home runs), with one walk and six strikeouts.
Trending: Entering Tuesday night’s game, Jose Iglesias led National League shortstops in average (.329), on-base percentage (.382) and doubles (eight).
At issue: Entering Tuesday night’s game, the Rockies had lost seven of their last eight road games and slashed just .223/.285/.332 while hitting .217 with runners in scoring position.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Royals RHP Zack Greinke (0-2, 2.67) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-3, 3.94), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
