Seattle’s Luis Castillo flirted with perfection and Noah Davis answered the Rockies’ prayers in a wonderful pitchers’ duel at T-Mobile Park Sunday afternoon.
In the end, however, the Rockies tumbled, again, falling 1-0 for their fifth consecutive loss and getting swept by the Mariners in the three-game series.
Colorado’s silver lining was Davis’ five scoreless innings.
“There were some positives to draw on there, for sure,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Seattle. “His mindset was to attack, which he did. It looked like his intent was to throw a strike with every pitch, which is what all starting pitchers need to do. All pitchers, for that matter.”
But for the 5-11 Rockies, the inability to throw consistent, quality strikes has haunted them all season. It eventually haunted them again Sunday.
Seattle won the game in the sixth inning on Jarred Kelenic’s two-out, run-scoring single off lefty reliever Brad Hand. But don’t blame Hand. Blame the crucial walks issued by right-hander Dinelson Lamet — one to Ty France to lead off the inning, the other to Cal Raleigh with one out — that set up Kelenic’s hit that scored France.
Lamet has a 6.78 ERA and has walked six in just seven innings of relief.
The Rockies, desperate for a quality start, called up Davis from Triple-A Albuquerque to fill in for injured right-hander German Marquez. Making his first start in the majors, Davis was outstanding. He blanked the Mariners for five innings, giving up three hits (all singles), with three walks and five strikeouts.
“This was the first time getting through five (innings) this year, minors or majors,” Davis told reporters. “It kind of felt like I was locked in from the beginning. After that first inning, I really felt I was in the game and I really mixed my pitches.”
Black lifted Davis after he threw 95 pitches (60 strikes) in his outing.
“There was a lot to like and I liked that his mix of pitches was solid and he used them all … I thought the poise was there in his first major league start,” Black said, referring to Davis’ sinker, four-seam fastball, slider and changeup.
“The only knock, right, if you could say anything (bad) was the inefficiency,” Black continued. “He threw 95 pitches in five innings, so there were some deep counts. And you have to give the (Mariners) credit. They fought some pitches off, there were some foul balls and they laid off some borderline pitches.”
Castillo, a Cy Young Award candidate, was even better than Davis, and more dominant. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out nine as he whittled his ERA to 0.78. He got 19 swings and misses, a season-high.
All told, the Rockies fanned 13 times and had just three hits. They are hitting .217 on the road, ranking 28th in the majors.
Jurickson Profar messed up Castillo’s “perfecto” with a looping single to lead off the seventh, and Kris Bryant’s infield single set the Rockies up for a chance at success with two on and nobody out. But Castillo struck out Charlie Blackmon, got C.J. Cron to dribble the ball back to the mound and saw Ryan McMahon line out to shortstop J.P. Crawford to end the threat.
Colorado, which has lost seven straight games on the road, was robbed of a chance to tie the game in the eighth on a great diving catch by Kelenic in right field. After Alan Trejo tagged reliever Justin Topa with a two-out double, pinch-hitter Elias Diaz ripped a ball but Kelenic ran it down and made the game-saving catch.
Davis, just 25, pitched like a salty veteran, making terrific pitches to get big outs when he needed them most.
In the third, he gave up back-to-back, one-out singles to Kolten Wong and Crawford, but escaped by inducing the dangerous Julio Rodriguez to ground into an inning-ending double play. Davis issued an ill-advised leadoff walk to France in the fourth, followed by a single by Eugenio Suarez. But he struck out Raleigh and got Teoscar Hernandez to ground into another double play.
Kelenic and J.P. Crawford reached on walks in the fifth, but Davis took care of business again, getting Rodriguez to foul out to Cron in foul territory near first base.
Davis admitted that in the past, having a “slow heartbeat” was not a strength, but it has been this season.
“I feel like this year, that’s kind of been the separator so far,” Davis said. “I feel like I’ve mentally been able to keep myself under control and make pitches when I need to. In the past, in situations like that, with runners on, maybe I would try to do too much. Maybe be too fine. So I just have to trust the process. ”
Davis made his big-league debut Oct. 5 in the final game of the 2022 season. He allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Cody Bellinger, and finished his first outing allowing two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out two.
Monday’s Pitching Matchup
Pirates LHP Rich Hill (0-2, 7.20 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-0, 0.96)
6:40 p.m. Monday, Coors Field
TV: ATTRM
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Freeland has been terrific so far and leads all National League starters with the lowest ERA and ranks fourth in the majors. The lefty did not allow a run through his first two starts and the two runs he has allowed came on solo home runs by the Cardinals’ Tommy Edman and Juan Yepez in Freeland’s last start. In seven career starts vs. the Pirates, he’s 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA. He’s 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA over his last four starts against Pittsburgh.
Hill, 43, is making his fourth start of the season. The lefty is coming off a solid performance — two earned runs allowed over six innings — but the Pirates lost, 7-0, to Houston. Hill is 1-4 with a 5.68 ERA in seven career starts against the Rockies. His only win came in his last appearance against the Rockies on Sept. 9, 2018, at Coors Field when he pitched for the Dodgers. He surrendered two earned runs on five hits and two walks over six innings in the Dodgers’ 9-6 victory.
Pitching probables
Tuesday: Pirates RHP Vince Velasquez (1-2, 5.40) at Rockies RHP Jose Urena (0-2, 9.90), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Wednesday: Pirates RHP Johan Oviedo (1-1, 2.45) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-3, 8.16), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Thursday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (0-2, 7.20) at Phillies LHP Matt Strahm, (1-1, 2.13), 4:40 p.m., ATTRM
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