Rockies spoil Kyle Freeland’s best outing of the season, fall 2-1 in Seattle – The Denver Post

Kyle Freeland did his job. The rest of the Rockies was responsible for further road damage.

The Rockies fell 2-1 to the Mariners on Tuesday night, dropping their record to 30:44 that season and just 5:28 from Coors Field. Colorado’s weak attack only managed four goals when the Rockies lost their third game in a row.

They can end their losing streak on Wednesday when they finish the two-game set against Seattle.

“(Kyle) went out of his way to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win,” said Rockies manager Bud Black. “… He pitched aggressively, I thought he attacked.”

After Lucas Gilbreath, a rescuer of the Rockies, held the Mariners off the board in the seventh, Seattle LF Shed Long Jr. cranked a 418-foot solo shot into the center in the eight. The homer, from Tyler Kinley, broke the 1-1 draw. Kinley deserved the defeat, while Seattle’s savior Paul Sewald, relieved, claimed victory.

The Rockies went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. Raimel Tapia managed to extend his hitting streak to 18 under the few offensive rays of hope.

In his best start to the season by far, Freeland gave the Rockies six sound innings. He left with seven strikeouts and only one earned run, five hits and one walk. The seven strikeouts were the total of his previous four starts combined. He was unimpressed by the multiple sticky substance tests when MLB began cracking down on pitchers earlier this week.

“For me it was definitely a step in the right direction,” said Freeland. “The only thing that would have been better tonight would have been a win.”

And he was almost reached by his colleague from Seattle.

Chris Flexen acted for six innings. He’d cut six, including two DH Trevor Story, and faced no real threat. But with two outs in seventh, Rockies 1B CJ Cron crushed a 402 foot opposite field homer to the right, tying him 1-1. A triple from Brendan Rodgers who was later stranded forced a pitching change from the Mariners.

Black admitted that he felt like Freeland had pressed in his previous five starts.

“I think so,” said Black before Tuesday’s game. “I think that’s natural. You come back (from an injury), you want to contribute immediately. I think the first two starts were on the way, New York / Pittsburgh. I felt that the effort was a little more than what you need for a high-quality game. I think he tried a little too hard.

“After those two starts that were a little bumpy, he’s trying to make up for that with great starts and that didn’t happen,” Black continued. “So all he has to do is get a solid ball game up and running to do his part as a starting pitcher.”

Through five innings, Freeland was more than solid. He kept his pitches low, blew a handful of sliders past Seattle’s thugs, and got several defensive games behind him.

“I think he’s trying too hard, whether he’s trying to get the first win or develop a really good ball game,” added Black. “I think he put a little pressure on himself.”

It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Freeland got into trouble for the first time. The Mariners loaded the bases on three back-to-back singles, including one from Jake Fraley, who landed on the left in front of Tapia.

After a strikeout, the Mariners took the first run of the game on an infield single from JP Crawford. But Seattle’s rally ended after Dylan Moore overran second place and was substituted out to finish the inning.

The Rockies needed all the timely defensive play they could muster while Flexen kept their clubs steady. Rodgers tore a single left in the top of fifth for Colorado’s first punch of the night. An inning later, Tapia smoked a liner in the middle.

And that was it. For six innings that was the extent of Colorado’s offense.