This week the Colorado Rockies claimed the title for trailing in the most consecutive games in Major League Baseball when they reached 30 in a row. The record was originally set by the St Louis Browns in 1910 at 29 games, but the Rockies stretched the record out to 31 during their losing series to the Miami Marlins. Then on Friday, the Rockies broke the streak and went on to snap a 5-game losing streak as well by beating the Pittsburg Pirates 3-2 on the road at PNC Park.
A standout performance came from Cal Quantrill who pitched 7.2 innings with 9 strikeouts. Quantrill seemed to be locked in a pitching battle with Martin Perez through the first five innings as both starters threw multiple strikeouts and limited batters to singles. Then Perez seemed to blink first in this pitching standoff when he balked in the top of the fifth and started to show signs of fatigue. The top of the sixth was when the Rockies offense showed they had dialed in a response to Perez’s pitching by going on a hitting spree.
Ryan McMahon led the charge at the top of the sixth when he returned Perez’s changeup passed the wall and the stands to plunk it in the Allegheny River behind the ballpark. Elias Diaz and Elehuris Montero continued the attack with a double and single respectively that resulted in bringing Diaz home and getting Perez pulled. Charlie Blackmon grounded out to advance Montero to third. Then Brendan Rodgers brought Montero home on a line drive single to right to bring the damage to 3-0. Then, at the bottom of the sixth, Jordan Beck made a great over-the-shoulder running catch at the leftfield wall prevented the Pirates from mounting a response.
Coincidentally, Quantrill ended his strong performance by hitting a batter just like Ryan Feltner ended his great run earlier in the week. This time Bud Black was ready because he already had Jake Bird warmed up when Quantrill was pulled. Bird took the mound and immediately went to work with a curveball that had Pittsburg fanning the wind. Then the dreaded bottom of the ninth came, and fans started flashing back to Tuesday’s heartbreak as Bird walked Bryan Reynolds and Jalen Beeks gave up a homer to the Pirates cleanup hitter, Oneil Cruz, which brought the game to 3-2 with one out. Beeks, however, quickly recovered his composure and held up under the pressure by getting the next two batters to go down swinging to end the game and the streak.
For the second time this week, the Rockies’ starting rotation delivered a phenomenal performance into the late half of the game. Quantrill delivered 99 pitches and added to the consistency with which the Rockies starters are showing they be depended on to deliver well into the second half. McMahon again produced a critical homerun and is continuing to provide leadership in the box with a .319/.407/.513 and an OPS of .920. Defensively, Beck had a great first week in the majors proving he was ready for this shot in the big show.
The Rockies ended their losing streak on the road and capped off their newly acquired title for most consecutive trailing games with this win in Pittsburg. Elements of good pitching, batting, and fielding were all present. Now, fans want to see if the Rockies can keep unifying these strengths to win some more ballgames.
