Tuesday’s Game Report: Rockies 2, Cardinals 1
One pitch in the first inning turned out to be the difference in the Cardinals’ loss to the Rockies on Tuesday night in Denver.
The pitch from Michael Wacha to Nolan Arenado landed 482 feet away from home plate, the longest home run of his career, and the two-run blast provided all of the Rockies offense for the night.
The loss was only the eighth by the Cardinals in their last 31 games. Three of the losses have come in games started by Wacha.
It also snapped a streak of seven consecutive games in which the Cardinals’ starter did not allow more than one run, a total of two runs allowed in 43 innings.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Twice the Cardinals had a runner on third base with less than one out and failed to score. They had the bases loaded in the fifth but pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter lined out and Dexter Fowler grounded out … In the seventh, they had runners on first and third with one out but Harrison Bader struck out and pinch-hitter Jose Martinez also struck out to end the inning … Their only run scored in the fourth when Fowler led off the inning with a double, went to third on a ground out and scored on a ground out from Paul Goldschmidt … They were 1-of-8 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound: Arenado’s homer, the 26th allowed by Wacha this season, came after a one-out single from Charlie Blackmon … Wacha was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fifth after allowing five hits and a walk while striking out three … Wacha is 0-3 in his last seven starts since Aug. 16 with four no-decisions (the Cardinals were 3-1 in those games) … Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos each pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Key stat: This was only the 10th time in the Cardinals 93 games at Coors Field since it opened in 1995 that they were held to one run or less. It was only the seventh time that they were shut out or scored only one run on six or fewer hits.
Worth noting: The Cardinals had defeated the Rockies in 12 of their previous 14 games dating back to 2017 … Goldschmidt has been stuck on 29 homers since Aug. 24, a span of 15 games and 64 plate appearances … His RBI on the groundout was his 81st of the season, tying him with Marcell Ozuna for the team lead … Tuesday was Goldschmidt’s 32nd birthday.
Looking ahead: Dakota Hudson will get the start on Wednesday night in the second game of the series.
