Braves 13, Rockies 6: Just one of those nights

Colorado’s pitching staff had no answers for Travis D’Arnaud and the Braves on Thursday

The Rockies were beat up once again. While there were some decent individual performances, they weren’t nearly enough to overcome the Braves, who easily took home the victory 13-6 on Thursday.

Gomber sets a dubious personal record

Austin Gomber’s last start against Washington was tough, as he was tagged for eight runs against the Nats. One assumed after an outing like that, things could only go up. While Gomber did manage to pitch much further into the game this time around, the results were not positive, as the Braves pummeled the lefty for nine runs on ten hits through his five innings. He consistently had runners on base, such as in the second inning where, after recording the first two outs, Gomber allowed five straight Braves to reach base by way of four hits and walk, which plated Atlanta’s first three runs. His only 1-2-3 inning came in the fourth frame, but things escalated in the fifth.

After already talking Gomber deep earlier in the game for a two-run homer, Travis d’Arnaud struck again for a grand slam that all but sealed the Rockies’ fate in the game. d’Arnaud alone recorded six RBI in the game.

Every one of Atlanta’s starters recorded a hit, and three of them recorded three. The Rockies have allowed 39 runs over their last three games.

Anderson changes things up

Ian Anderson wasn’t exactly Sandy Koufax on Thursday, but he did more than enough to keep the Rockies at bay. Anderson worked around ten hits and a walk to allow five runs in six innings. He recorded nine strikeouts, the majority of which came by way of his dominant changeup, which he consistently threw down in the zone to great effect. Five runs allowed isn’t amazing, but in this game it wasn’t much of a bother.

Offense does good work

The final score indicates a lopsided loss for the Rockies, but there were definite highlights at the plate. Connor Joe and Charlie Blackmon looked like an unstoppable pair at the top of the lineup, and they were the catalyst for just about every one of Colorado’s scoring opportunities. Joe went 2-for-3 with two walks and scored three runs while improving his on-base streak to 29 games, while Blackmon went 4-for-5 with a couple RBI. C.J. Cron also smacked his National League-leading 14th home run of the season (though he also grounded into two double plays, so it was definitely an up-and-down night).

Brendan Rodgers added a single to move his hitting streak up to 20 games. Gotta look at the positives, right?

Up Next

The Rockies and Braves duke it out in game two of their series tomorrow. Chad Kuhl (4-2, 3.56 ERA), Colorado’s most consistent starter, gets the ball for the Rockies. Max Fried (5-2, 3.10 ERA) toes the rubber for Atlanta.

First pitch is at 6:40pm MDT. See you then!