Following Friday night's dramatic come-from-behind win, the Colorado Rockies absolutely pounded Phillies pitching en-route to a 10-5 loss Saturday afternoon.
Phillies starter Jonathan Pettibone (3-2) looked bad from the beginning, showing poor control and making mistakes high, always a mistake at Coors Field. He has struggled in each of his last few starts, but this was probably his worst as he struggled to even make it out of the first inning.
The Phillies took the lead in the first with an RBI infield single, but Colorado quickly struck back when Carlos Gonzalez hit an RBI double off the wall in center to drive in Jordan Pacheco, tying it at one. Michael Cuddyer hit an RBI single to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
Wilin Rosario followed Cuddyer's hit with a triple to right center after John Mayberryfailed to make a move on the ball initially. Nolan Arenado had an RBI single and Tyler Colvin smashed a two-run homer to put the Rockies up 5-1, but it was the next hit that caught most peoples' attention.
Following DJ Lemahieu's steal of second, Tyler Chatwood hit a ground ball to Ryan Howard a bit past first. Howard, after struggling to handle the ball, threw to Humberto Quintero, whose throw to Michael Young at third was low and got away from him, allowing Lemahieu to score and Chatwood to reach third. Josh Rutledge grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Revere singled to center again, scoring Quintero, who had reached after he too singled to center and advancing to third on a Pettibone groundout. The RBI cut the lead to 6-2.
It didn't get much better for the Phillies afterwards, though. Pettibone pitched a clean second inning, but Colorado collected three hits and a run in the third to increase their lead to 7-2.
Pettibone was repaced by Jeremy Horst to start the fourth. Horst then proceded to do his best Jonathan Pettibone impersonation in throwing 41 pitches in the inning, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks to give the Rockies a 10-2 lead.
Joe Savery relieved Horst to start the fifth, and things got quieter from then on, though the Phillies bats failed to capitalize on it. The Phillies worked 7 base hits and two walks off of Chatwood, but only scored twice.
Ryan Howard and Laynce Nix doubled in consecutive at-bats, with Howard's drive making the score 10-3. Mayberry hit a two-run home run to make the game 10-5, though there would be no comeback today. Chris Volstad, who gave up the runs, was replaced by Josh Outman to start the ninth and sat the Phillies down to end the game. Final: 10-5 Colorado.
Considering the circumstances, today's game was pretty bad, and that's not even considering Pettibone's poor performance. The fielding was poor, and the offense failed to capitalize on the friendly park conditions and opportunities with men on base. It was hard to watch.
The Phillies conclude the series tomorrow in Colorado in the decisive game of the series. Here's hoping they look a little better tomorrow.
