Rockies can't solve Jeff Locke, fall 6-1 to the Pirates
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Rockies were seeing red on a night when they had more ejections than runs.
Manager Walt Weiss and outfielder Ryan Raburn were both tossed during a 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night for arguing balls and strikes.
Jeff Locke (1-2) kept throwing the ball at knee level — or slightly lower — and kept getting the call for a strike from home-plate umpire Lance Barrett.
That was much to Locke's delight and the chagrin of the Rockies.
"I guess you can't get mad anymore," said Raburn, who was thrown out in the sixth after taking a called third strike. "They weren't good calls. I guess he didn't like me being upset with it and I got rung."
It was the first ejection of his major league career.
Weiss was a little more diplomatic.
"You question balls and strikes and you're usually going to get tossed," said Weiss, who was tossed after the fourth when he came out of the dugout to question a low pitch that fanned Nick Hundley. "But it was the same zone for both sides. They dealt with it better than we did."
Locke allowed five hits as he bounced back from a clunker in his last outing. He struck out a season-high eight, including five on called third strikes that were right at the knees.
"A few of them were generous," Locke acknowledged. "A few of them could go either way."
Locke cruised through most of this game. His only rough patch was in the fifth when he faced a two-on, one-out jam. He fanned rookie Trevor Story and got Carlos Gonzalez to fly out.
"Fastball, command, the intent, the conviction, the execution, the changeup in offensive counts, sprinkled in some curve balls, he pitched very, very effectively," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Big start for him."
Chad Bettis (2-1) had his start moved up a day with Jorge De La Rosa under the weather. Bettis gave up four runs in 6 2/3 innings.
"He's our horse. He's the guy we look to," said Hundley, who was reinstated from the disabled list before the game after missing time with a concussion. "Whenever he's on the mound, we expect to win. The work that he puts in — he's the leader of this staff."
Matt Joyce broke the game open in the seventh with his three-run homer to left-center off reliever Scott Oberg. That gave the Pirates a 5-0 lead and sent them to their sixth straight win over the Rockies at Coors Field.
The game was halted for 30 minutes by a downpour with two outs in the second and a 2-2 count on Bettis with Mark Reynolds at third. On the first pitch after the delay, Bettis bunted the ball foul for a strikeout.
Colorado scored its only run of the game in the seventh on a fielder's choice by Gerardo Parra.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: OF Andrew McCutchen got the day off after playing Sunday in a 13-inning win at Arizona that lasted more than 5 hours. "Somebody brought up he's the only one not to sit a game yet. I said, 'Well, let's do that,'" Hurdle explained.
Rockies: OF Charlie Blackmon (turf toe) is scheduled to play seven innings Tuesday and a full game Wednesday for Class A Modesto. If he progresses well, Blackmon could be reinstated from the DL on Friday in Arizona.
FIRST SAVE
Being from Denver, reliever A.J. Schugel had around 30 friends and family members in attendance. They picked a good night to show up as he earned up his first major league save by pitching 2 1/3 innings. Funny, he didn't even know he had earned it until he was handed the baseball by first baseman Sean Rodriguez.
"Sean is like, 'Do you want the ball?' I'm like, 'I guess I'll keep it?'" Schugel said. "He's like, 'That's a save.' I said, 'Yeah, I'll keep it.'"
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (1-2) looks for his second win in a row when he faces the Rockies on Tuesday. He went 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA a season ago as he finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting.
Rockies: De La Rosa (1-2) is recovered from the stomach flu and will start. He's 1-1 with an 8.44 ERA in two starts at Coors Field this season.