After a sixth loss in seven games, Rockies mercifully head home
Apr 3, 2024, 10:00 PM | Updated: 10:08 pm
On a night when the Colorado Rockies offense exploded — and Kris Bryant finally got a hit after a ghastly 0-for-18 start to the season — it still wasn’t enough to avoid a sweep and pull the team out of its worst-ever start.
Colorado ultimately fell to the Chicago Cubs, 9-8, as a 5-run eighth-inning outburst wasn’t enough after the Cubs scored on a third-strike wild pitch by Nick Mears, followed by a single and a run-scoring fielder’s choice that saw catcher Jacob Stallings fail to successfully field a throw from Ryan McMahon — although it appeared unlikely Stallings could have swiveled to make a run-preventing tag in time.
The Rockies slid to 1-6, which matches the 2005 season for the worst seven-game start in club history.
Their minus-34 run differential is the seventh-worst in major-league history through seven games since 1901. And with 58 runs allowed, the Rockies have surrendered more runs in the first seven games of a season than any team since 2019.
BUT KRIS BRYANT FINALLY BROKE OUT OF HIS FUNK
Bryant snapped out of his season-opening, 0-for-18 drought with a RBI single to left field in the top of the sixth inning, bringing home Stallings for the Rockies’ first run. He added another RBI single in the ninth inning, lacing a leadoff single down the third-base line just past the glove of Chicago’s Nick Madrigal.
But Bryant advanced no further, as Nolan Jones and Michael Toglia struck out before Brenton Doyle grounded softly to short, ending the threat.
Cal Quantrill took the loss, allowing four earned runs, four hits and four walks over four innings. Acquired in the offseason from Cleveland, Quantrill’s ERA sits at 9.00 through two games.
The Rockies return for their home opener Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
