By Michael Lipinski, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
| Runs | Hits | Errors | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| Colorado Rockies | 6 | 8 | 0 |
WP: Lawrence (1-0, 1.29) LP: Dominguez (1-1, 5.06) S: Bard (5)
A controversial no call in the 7th inning, followed by C.J. Cron's three-run homerun propelled the Rockies to a 6-5 come from behind win over the Phillies on Tuesday night in Denver. The loss is the Phillies third in a row and their 14th in the last 19. Both teams will meet at 3:10 PM/Eastern on Wednesday in the finale of the series. The Phillies will look to avoid a three-game sweep.
As has been the case often this season, the Phillies jumped out to an early lead. Bryce Harper’s one out single off of Rockies starter Kyle Freeland gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead after one. The Phillies added another run in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Matt Vierling to give the Fightin’s a 2-0 lead.
Chalk up another RBI for Bryce 😁 pic.twitter.com/PmLdO7iV9u
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 20, 2022
Phillies starter Kyle Gibson cruised through the first three innings, allowing only a Jose Inglesias single in the bottom of the 3rd. The Phillies’ early season ace ran into Colorado’s hottest hitters in the 4th and was unable to come out unscathed/
Charlie Blackmon and Kris Bryant started the Colorado 4th with back-to-back singles off of Gibson. Cron would follow with a sacrifice fly driving in Blackmon and cutting the Phillies lead to 2-1 with one out and a runner on first. Gibson walked Ryan McMahon to put runners on first and second. The Phillies were unable to turn a double play on a Brendan Rodgers hit to third but were able to force McMahon out at second. It looked like Gibson was going to escape the 4th with minimal damage but Colorado had other ideas.
Randal Grichuk continued the Rockies’ scoring with an RBI single to center driving in Bryant to make it 2-2. After a mound visit from Phillies pitching coach, Gibson promptly served up another single this time to Elias Diaz. The Diaz single scored Rodgers and gave Colorado a 3-2 lead. Gibson would get Inglesias to strike out swinging to end the 4th but the damage was done.
Grichuk🤝Díaz
Rockies lead 3-2! pic.twitter.com/GzeDgw3xXL
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 20, 2022
Both teams would go quietly in the 5th and Colorado would turn to their bullpen to start the 6th. Ty Blach relieved Freeland and the Phillies were able to take advantage.
J.T. Realmuto led off the 6th with a single to left, setting the table for Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber took a 1-1 Blach pitch “oppo boppo” to left field giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Blach would settle down, ultimately getting Vierling to ground into an inning ending double play. But the damage was done to Colorado’s impenetrable bullpen.
SCHWAR💣 pic.twitter.com/Z5I5NXWObx
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 20, 2022
Gibson would set Colorado down in order in the bottom of the 6th, his last inning of work. Other than the 3rd inning, Gibson was once again untouchable. His line for the game was: 6.0 IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K, improving his ERA to 3.57 on the season. The thin lead was now in the hands of the Phillies bullpen.
Seranthony Dominguez relieved Gibson to start the 7th. The hard throwing righty would get out the first two batters he faced, Inglesias with a ground out and Connor Joe swinging. He seemingly struck out Blackmon on with a 2-2 fastball to end the 7th, but home plate umpire Paul Emmel didn’t see it that way.
Judge for yourself:
Seranthony Dominguez throws a dot, but it's not a strike according to Paul Emmel pic.twitter.com/Ky0ayHDpIB
— Brodes Media (@BrodesMedia) April 20, 2022
As Harry Kalas would say, "right down the middle for a ball." Okay, it wasn't down the middle but you get the point.
Dominguez would eventually walk Blackmon and allow a single to Bryant to put runners on first and second. The Bryant single was the end of the night for Dominguez, Jeurys Familia got the nod and the goal of shutting down the Colorado scoring threat.
Well, that didn’t happen.
CRON. CLUTCH. CRUSHED.💪
We're back on 🔝 pic.twitter.com/hdPoNZFywo
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 20, 2022
Colorado’s Cron took a 2-2 Familia pitch and deposited it ten rows deep into the left field bleachers. The three-run homer gave Colorado a 6-4 lead heading into the 8th inning.
But the Phillies weren't done just yet, Colorado turned to reliever Alex Colome and the Phillies were able to take advantage.
Realmuto recorded his third hit of the night, a one-out double to right field, putting the tying run at the plate. Schwarber didn’t tie the game up with one swing of the bat but he did drive in Realmuto with a single to right. Colorado’s lead was quickly cut to 6-5 with the sure hitting Alec Bohm at the plate. Bohm wasn’t able to get anything done, grounding into an inning ending double play and ending the Phillies’ last threat of the night.
Johan Camargo, Bryson Stott, and Jean Segura would go down 1-2-3 in the 9th inning against Colorado closer Daniel Bard. Game, set, match. Colorado goes for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field.
Series secured, sweep on the line 👀
See you back at Coors tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/ATijAZVjFF
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 20, 2022
Stars of the Game
Colorado 1B C.J. Cron: 1-for-2, HR (6), 1R, 4RBI, BB
Phillies OF Kyle Schwarber: 2-for-4, HR (3), 1R, 3RBI
Next Game
Date: Wednesday, April 20 vs. Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, CO
First Pitch: 3:10 PM/Eastern
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia/MLB Network
Radio: 94.1 WIP-FM and the Phillies Radio Network
Pitching Probables: Zach Eflin (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. German Marquez (0-0, 3.97 ERA)
