In the city of Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Rocky Balboa, the Rockies threw jabs while the Phillies landed haymakers.
Philadelphia won, 4-3, hitting three home runs off left-hander Kyle Freeland on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Nick Castellanos hit two of the bombs, including a one-out solo shot in the sixth that was the difference-maker.
The stumbling Rockies hit no home runs and were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Little wonder they lost for the 10th time in their past 11 games and own a 6-16 record, the worst in the National League.
“The big hit is eluding us,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Philadelphia. “We are hitting balls on the nose at certain times but you’ve got to bunch them together if you’re not hitting homers.”
Adding injury to the latest loss was the status of outfielder Kris Bryant, who was pulled from the game before his at-bat in the third inning with pain in the sacroiliac joints (SI) and the glute on his left side. Bryant, the designated hitter on Saturday, was pinch hit for by Elehuris Montero. According to Black, Bryant felt “a sharp pain” when he struck out in the first inning.
Freeland, coming off a rocky start at home vs. the Pirates, got in trouble quickly on a day when the wind was blowing out to center. But the lefty said he didn’t think he pitched poorly.
“All three (home run) pitches were executed well, they were where I wanted them,” Freeland told reporters. “Those were good pitches in those counts. The wind helped, I’m sure, a little bit, but at the same time they were able to fire off pretty solid swings and lift that ball into the air.”
Castellanos led off the second inning with a homer, his first of the season. Then Freeland walked Brandon Marsh to open the third and paid a price when Cristian Pache lofted a two-run shot to center for his first home run of the season.
Freeland stuck around for six innings, struck out six and walked one. But the three homers messed up his day and left him with a 4.28 ERA. The left-hander has given up six homers in five starts.
“Kyle did fine, he competed hard,” Black said. “He threw the ball fine and he’s done that all year. That was a tough loss.”
The Rockies were able to stay in the game because of their ability to string at-bats together, something that often eludes them on the road. But Colorado never delivered a clutch hit with runners in scoring position.
The Rockies got on the board in the third on a leadoff single by Alan Trejo, a walk by Charlie Blackmon, a wild pitch by starter Cristopher Sanchez and an RBI groundout by Jurickson Profar. In the fourth, Yonathan Daza’s double drove in Ryan McMahon for Colorado’s second run. In the fifth, Blackmon drew a one-out walk, took third on Profar’s single and scored on pinch hitter Mike Moustakas’ sacrifice fly.
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