Rockies drop third straight as opener strategy falters against Braves
Now in his 16th MLB season, Atlanta pitcher Chris Sale keeps building his Hall of Fame resume with outings like he had on Saturday night at Coors Field.
Sale continued his mastery of the Rockies by allowing just one run and striking out 11 as Atlanta quickly figured out Colorado’s opener strategy and Chase Dollander on its way to a 9-1 decision in front of 38,569 fans.
The loss was the third straight for Colorado, including the second consecutive against Atlanta to open the homestand, and dropped the Rockies to 14-20 on the season.
Dollander, who had a 2.25 ERA coming into Saturday as part of an MLB-leading 25 innings as a reliever, once again came into the game following an opener. However, the plan never got off the ground against a potent Braves lineup.
Brennan Bernardino started the game for Colorado and gave up hits to the first three Atlanta batters, including Drake Baldwin’s two-run homer that staked the visitors to a quick 2-0 lead.
It marked the latest in a series of problems for Colorado using the opener. Heading into Saturday, the Rockies had an 8.31 ERA across five starts with openers. Colorado’s record in those games was 1-4, and dropped to 1-5 with Saturday’s bludgeoning.
“I love Bernie. Bernie is a big part of our team. You trust him against that part of the order,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I like the left-on-left matchup with Baldwin. He just got him today.”
Dollander entered the game with two outs in the first and gave the Rockies length, throwing 5 1/3 innings. However, the eight hits and six runs allowed were both season highs for Dollander as his ERA rose more than a run to 3.38.
“I didn’t get ahead and then just didn’t put guys away when I needed to. I started falling behind when I got ahead, and that’s not conducive to success,” Dollander said.
While Atlanta’s offense was figuring out Bernardino and Dollander, Sale was continuing to torment the Rockies. Now in 31.1 career innings against Colorado, the southpaw has posted a 1.45 ERA and has pitched exactly seven innings in each of his four previous starts against the Rockies. That included a 10-strikeout performance last year at Coors Field when Sale faced off against Dollander on April 30.
Just a little later on the calendar this year, Sale still held the upper hand, thanks in big part to a devastating fastball-slider combination that gave Rockies hitters problems all night.
Colorado managed just three hits against Sale, with two of those coming in the third inning that produced the only run plated all night. Kyle Karros led off the frame with a single and Jordan Beck brought him home with an RBI double to cut the Atlanta lead to 3-1.
Outside of that, Brett Sullivan started the seventh with a single to right, but Sale showed no signs of slowing down in his final inning. He struck out the final three Rockies he faced, raising his total to 11 in a dominating performance.
“That was vintage Chris Sale,” Schaeffer said. “Still a really good fastball and good slider. Then the third time through (the lineup), he mixed in the changeup. It was really good. He was efficient attacking the strike zone.”
Braves 9, Rockies 1
What happened: Chris Sale recorded 11 strikeouts, his 92nd career game with 10 or more strikeouts, ranking eighth on the all-time list in that category, as Colorado’s offense was held to just four hits, including three singles.
On the mound: Atlanta jumped to a 2-0 lead against opener Brennan Bernardino thanks to Drake Baldwin’s two-run homer. That long ball ended a streak of 58 consecutive innings without giving up a home run, the second-longest active streak in Major League Baseball.
At the plate: Brett Sullivan was the only Rockies batter not to strike out against Sale and one of only three Rockies to record a hit against him. Brenton Doyle whiffed twice in four empty at-bats as his average dropped to .213.
What’s next: The Rockies wrap up their series with Atlanta on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Colorado’s Kyle Freeland (1-2, 3.48 ERA) is scheduled to go against Spencer Strider, who is projected to come off the injured list and make his season debut for Atlanta.