Colorado’s Angel-filled nightmare continued in Tuesday’s series opener in Anaheim.
The Rockies entered the game with the lowest winning percentage against the Angels of any opponent in franchise history at .311. And that mark slipped a little more after the Rockies blew an early lead en route to a 10-7 defeat at Angel Stadium.
Right-hander Cal Quantrill was roughed up in the defeat, yielding a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.
“We had the lead 6-2, we had the lead 6-4,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “It was surprising and frustrating for Cal that he couldn’t get through this one. He’s been so good for us all year, so that was unexpected.”
Colorado jumped on right-hander Griffin Canning right off the bat, with two runs in the first inning and then four in the second.
Kris Bryant’s sacrifice fly and Brendan Rodgers’ RBI double made it 2-0 early, then after Taylor Ward’s two-RBI single off Quantrill in the bottom of the frame, Ezequiel Tovar’s sacrifice fly plus Ryan McMahon’s three-run homer gave the Rockies a commanding early lead.
But Quantrill — who remains in a Rockies uniform despite being the subject of trade speculation up through Tuesday’s deadline — wasn’t sharp.
The right-hander lacked command of his signature pitch, the splitter. Los Angeles got a two-RBI double by Matt Thaiss in the third, then Ward and Thaiss drove home runs in the fourth to swing the lead back to the Angels, 7-6, and chase Quantrill from the game.
“There were some elevated pitches, and (Quantrill) threw a number of splits and that was part of the gameplan, he just didn’t have the feel for it,” Black said.
Tovar tied the game in the seventh off southpaw Jose Quijada via the shortstop’s 18th homer of the year, tying Michael Toglia for a team high. Tovar was the Rockies’ lone baserunner after the second inning.
Los Angeles retook the lead, again, in the bottom of the seventh via Jo Adell’s monstrous solo homer, a 439-foot shot to center off right-hander Jake Bird.
The Angels then added on to that late lead via Zach Neto’s push bunt and Thaiss’ RBI single that plated two more runs off Justin Lawrence.
“The pitching wasn’t up to par at all today,” Black said. “We didn’t hit in (a four-game sweep in) San Francisco… Today we hit, and we didn’t pitch.”
Thaiss finished with five RBIs, and is the first player in Angels history to drive in five runs and have two steals in a single game. Thaiss is also just the second catcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat, joining Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, who did it for the Tigers in 1934.
Meanwhile, the Colorado offense couldn’t muster another surge with the game on the line, getting set down in order in the eighth by Ben Joyce before fellow right-hander Hunter Strickland did the same to the Rockies in the ninth.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-4, 6.23 ERA) at Angels TBA
7:38 p.m. Wednesday, Angel Stadium
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Freeland was in a groove before getting derailed in his last start in San Francisco, when the Giants tagged him for six runs on eight hits in four innings, including a pair of homers. Before that, he posted five straight quality starts following his return from the injured list due to an elbow strain. The southpaw’s been decent getting hitters to swing at pitches out of the zone, as he ranks in the 68th percentile in chase rate. He’s also been striking out more hitters lately than he usually does, including eight K’s in his last outing and nine in Cincinnati on July 10. Los Angeles has yet to announce its starter for Game 2 of the series.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-10, 4.99) at Angels RHP Carson Fulmer (0-2, 3.77), 7:38 p.m.
Friday: Rockies TBA at Padres TBA, 7:40 p.m.
Saturday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (2-7, 4.79) at Padres RHP Michael King (9-6, 3.26), 6:40 p.m.
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