While the Colorado Rockies were looking to end a losing streak, the Cleveland Guardians came into Coors Field and kept the Rockies in check.
Well, the Colorado Rockies probably hoped that facing a team that was not the Los Angeles Dodgers could change their fortunes and get them back on the winning track.
The Cleveland Guardians made sure that didn't happen.
Rockies starting pitcher Tanner Gordon gave up five earned runs and the Rockies' bullpen wasn't much help, either. Cleveland scored early and often throughout Friday night's game and picked up a 9-1 win at Coors Field.
Gordon worked 5.1 innings, giving up nine hits, those five earned runs, walked two, struck out two, and gave up a home run. Reliever Mark Manfredi came in after Gordon was removed from the game by Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer. Manfredi worked two-thirds of an inning and didn't allow a hit, walked two, and struck out one.
Agnos didn't deliver for Rockies
Zach Agnos came in, though, and surrendered four more earned runs in 2.1 innings of work. Agnos gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out three but surrendered a home run, too. It was so bad that Schaeffer sent catcher Brett Sullivan to pitch the final two-thirds of the ninth inning, and he only gave up one hit.
Joey Cantillo started for the Guardians and went 4.2 innings, giving up four hits, one earned run, walked four, and struck out five. Tim Herrin came in next and picked up the win, working 1.1 innings and striking out two.
Three other Guardian relievers followed and kept Colorado off the board.
Willi Castro's RBI single to center field with two outs in the first inning let Jake McCarthy score and give the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. It wasn't expected at the time that this was going to be the lone run that Colorado scored on Friday night.
Guardians' offense was rolling
Cleveland scored runs in the third through seventh innings and added one more run in the ninth. That's spreading the wealth for the Guardians across the length of the game.
This game could have been much, much worse for the Rockies. Cleveland went 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position and ended up leaving 10 total runners on base. As for Colorado, the team was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and the Rockies left 11 total runners on base.
In losing on Friday night, the Rockies have lost four straight games...all of them in front of their home fans. Jordan Beck went 2-for-4 to lead the Colorado offense.
The Guardians are a team filled with solid hitters and even those who can hit a few home runs when they are going well. This was not going to be a walk in the park at all for the Rockies. On Friday night, though, it looked way too easy for Cleveland to pick up a victory.
