The Rockies are lost in the West.
Colorado continued to beeline to a second straight last-place finish in its division, as the Dodgers romped the Rockies 14-3 in Thursday’s series finale. It was a defeat that further emphasized the gap between LoDo’s team and the other four clubs in the National League West.
With the beatdown at the hands of their big bro from L.A., the Rockies are now 0-6-1 in seven divisional series this year. Their 5-17 mark (.227) against the West is on pace to top the franchise-low of .361 from ’97, and it’s the third-lowest winning percentage of any team within divisional play since the West was founded in 1969.
“We’ve got to play better (in the division),” manager Bud Black said. “And we’ve got to pitch better within the division, because it’s mainly pitching (woes).”
Thursday’s game, delayed one hour and 50 minutes by a hailstorm that pummeled the city a few hours before scheduled first pitch, again exposed the Rockies’ patchwork rotation.
Chase Anderson, whose nine earned runs in his last start helped uncork the worst loss in franchise history, wasn’t sharp again as L.A. tagged him for six runs on six hits in three-plus innings. He’s now turned in three straight duds going back to his seven-run, three-inning performance in Atlanta on June 18.
“In those innings that mount against him, (Anderson) has got to be able to make some pitches, and he just couldn’t do it tonight,” Black said.
Peter Lambert then proceeded to give up five runs, and by the middle of the 5th, fans were leaving the late-starting game as the Rockies faced an 11-3 deficit and looked very much like a franchise that hasn’t won a divisional title in its 30-year history.
The Dodgers scored again in the sixth, via Miguel Vargas’ RBI triple off Gavin Hollowell, and then got two more runs off Matt Carasiti in the seventh to push the score to 14-3.
In the end, it was the third ugly loss of the homestand after the Rockies’ historic 25-1 trouncing at the hands of the Angels last Saturday, and then a 5-0 shutout by Clayton Kershaw & Co. in Tuesday’s series opener.
Elias Diaz’s first-inning sacrifice fly and subsequent two-RBI single in the third were the lone offensive sparks for Colorado against rookie right-hander Emmet Sheenan, and then the Dodgers’ bullpen blanked Colorado for four frames.
Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy had three RBIs apiece, while J.D. Martinez put on a show with four hits and four RBIs, including a two-run bomb off Lambert in the fourth.
“(Lambert’s) balls were in the middle of the plate,” Black said.
Colorado now hosts the Tigers for a three-game series starting Friday, after which the Rockies head to play two games in Houston and then three against West foe San Francisco at Oracle Park. The Giants contributed to Colorado’s divisional troubles already this year, sweeping the Rockies at Coors Field earlier this month.
Friday’s pitching matchup
Tigers RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-5, 3.79) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (5-7, 7.01)
6:10 p.m. Friday, Coors Field
TV: ATTRM
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gomber has been mediocre at best this month, with a 7.04 ERA in five June starts, including giving up two runs over five innings in a win over the Angels last Sunday. He’s been keeping the walks down, with only two over his last three outings, but the longball continues to be a bugaboo — Gomber’s been taken deep three times in two of his last four starts. Meanwhile, the veteran Lorenzen is in his first season with Detroit and the Tigers have lost his last five starts. Right-handers are hitting Lorenzen at a .304 clip.
Pitching probables
Saturday: Tigers TBA at Rockies TBA, 7:10 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Tigers RHP Matt Manning (1-1, 4.15) at Rockies RHP Connor Seabold (1-4, 5.98), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Monday: Off
