Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | June 16, 2024

On Sunday afternoon, 40,422 fans gathered at Coors Field to celebrate Father’s Day. Unfortunately, the festivities turned sour for the home crowd as the Pittsburgh Pirates pummeled the Rockies and walked away with the series win.

Game Story

Despite the final margin being a blowout, the first half of the game was a tightly contested battle. The Pirates opened the scoring in the 2nd with a pair of two-out hits. A Jared Triolo double was followed by a Jack Suwinski RBI single, and Pittsburgh jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

There was not another marker on the scoreboard until the 6th when the Pirates blew the game open. Again with two outs, the ‘Bucs’ scored five times. First, Jared Triolo scored two with a single, extending the Pirates’ lead to 3-0. Then, after two more Pirates reached to load the bases, Jason Delay laced a bases-clearing double, turning a manageable deficit into an insurmountable 6-0 Pittsburgh lead.

The Pirates added another two runs in the 7th via a Rowdy Tellez RBI single. Colorado was able to avoid the shutout with a Jake Cave RBI groundout in the 8th and a Nolan Jones RBI single in the 9th.

Colorado fell, 8-2.

Quotes

Manager Bud Black on the loss: “Things didn’t go our way. Last night, they did. We scored 16 runs, we caught some breaks, we hit the ball on the nose a lot. Today was such a hard-fought game early. Then, that span of four hitters was the determining factor in the game… We just couldn’t really mount anything against their pitchers.”

Bud Black on Nolan Jones: “We need Nolan. We need him to be a big part of our lineup to score runs. That was a good sign today, those two hard base hits to center field.”

Bud Black on top prospect Adael Amador: “I think you’re seeing a young 21-year-old be a little anxious. Maybe swinging a little bit earlier in the count more than he’s done in the minor leagues. I think in the minor leagues [he’s being] a little bit more selective because the pitching there is a little variable and inconsistent… Major League pitchers are going to make him see if he can hit and they’re gonna throw strikes. So there’s a combination. He is seeing some strikes but he’s also expanding a little bit and he’s not being as selective as I think he will be in time.”

Notes

With Sunday’s loss, the Rockies dropped to 3-10 on the season on Sundays and 2-9 in rubber matches. On Sundays, Colorado is scoring just 1.8 runs per game and they have not scored more than five runs in a Sunday game all season.

Nolan Jones went 3-for-4 and had his first multi-hit game since April 27 vs Houston. Nolan has reached base safely in each game and he has a .692 OBP in the three games since his return.

What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?

On Monday, the Rockies continue their 10-game homestand as they welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town for a four-game series. In the series opener, probable starters are LHP James Paxton (6-1, 3.92 ERA) for LA and RHP Cal Quantrill (6-4, 3.30 ERA) for Colorado.

Story by Noah Spirek.

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