(Photo Credit: mlb.si.com)
The Rockies and the Braves battled in Atlanta tonight but in the end the Braves came out victorious by a score of 9-8.
Jorge De La Rosa had one of his toughest starts of the season tonight as he was only able to last five innings. Brandon Beachy made his return to the Major Leagues after over a year absence from the game and he was rusty as would be expected as he only lasted 3 2/3rd innings on the night. The Rockies were able to out hit the Braves 15-12 but unfortunately they were unable to come up with the big hit that they needed to get the victory. Edgmer Escalona took the loss for the Rockies and is now 1-4 on the season, while recently acquired Scott Downs picked up the win for the Braves.
The Scoring began on the night when Carlos Gonzalez plated Dexter Fowler with an RBI single in the first inning. Wilin Rosario added onto that in the second inning when he hit a solo home run to right field off of Brandon Beachy. Michael Cuddyer had a two RBI triple in the third inning and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Todd Helton to make the score 5-0 in favor of the Rockies, which looked even better with Jorge De La Rosa on the hill. The Braves answered back with six runs on the bottom half of the third inning which was highlighted by a two RBI bases loaded double by Chris Johnson and an RBI double by Andrelton Simmons. Nolan Arenado had a big error in the inning which could have possibly gotten the Rockies out of the inning after only allowing one run. When the dust settled after the third inning, the Rockies trailed the Braves 6-5. Arenado tried to atone for his error as he came to plate and hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning for the Rockies. They regained the lead 7-6 when DJ LeMahieu scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. The Braves answered back in the bottom of the fifth inning and grabbed the lead back when Dan Uggla had an RBI double and Joey Terdoslavich had an RBI single to give the Braves the 8-7 lead. The score remained the same heading into the ninth inning when Fredi Gonzalez elected not to utilize All Star closer Craig Kimbrel for a fourth consecutive day and went with Jordan Walden instead. Walden blew the save as Carlos Gonzalez picked up his fifth hit of the night that scored Dexter Fowler from the third. Matt Belisle worked a scoreless ninth inning but Edgmer Escalona came in to pitch the tenth inning and walked the first batter he faced in Dan Uggla and then gave up a game ending triple to Andrelton Simmons
Jorge De La Rosa was given a rude welcome to Atlanta and had his worst start of the year. He lasted just five innings allowing 10 hits, eight runs (five earned), two walks and struck out three batters. His ERA jumped from 2.97 to 3.21. The Rockies bullpen kept them in the game and gave them a chance to win the game late, but it was not meant to be and they were saddled with another loss. Manny Corpas, Josh Outman, Wilton Lopez and Matt Belisle worked four innings combined, allowing just one hit, no walks and struck out eight. Edgmer Escalona did not record an out in the 10th inning before allowing the walk off triple to Andrelton Simmons. The Rockies were led offensively by Carlos Gonzalez who went 5 for 5 in the game. All five hits were singles, but he did come up with the big hit in the ninth inning which sent the game into extra innings. Wilin Rosario also had three hits in the game including his 15th home run of the season. DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado each had two hits in the game.
The Rockies and Braves will be back in action tomorrow night and if the game is anything like the game tonight then all of the fans are in for a real treat for the rest of this series. Juan Nicasio (6-4, 4.40 ERA) of the Rockies will be taking on Alex Wood (0-2, 3.42 ERA) of the Braves. First pitch for the game tomorrow is at 5:10 PM Mountain time.
Dave Land
Dave is a Sports Administration Major at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He interned for the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche Group Ticket Sales departments. He's worked as an Event Manager for the Gold Crown Foundation. He has worked in sports through all facets of the game, and with Youth, High School, College, Minor Leagues, and Major Leagues at all different capacities.
