The Colorado Rockies fell flat against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 9-0 shutout, marking the third game in a row where mistakes piled up and got the best of them.
Michael Soroka, returning to the Diamondbacks' rotation after a stint on the injured list, kept the Rockies' bats at bay. He dominated the Rockies in the top of the first inning, showing no rust from the injury that sidelined him since mid-June.
Soroka relied primarily on his four-seam fastball and his slurve, which factored in heavily through the first. He sat down Jake McCarthy on just four pitches, getting him to swing and strikeout on a slurve down low after peppering him with fastballs and a changeup.
Gabriel Hughes struggled with his command, throwing a wild pitch that scored Gabriel Moreno and loading the bases. Nolan Arenado then knocked a grand slam to left, giving the D-backs an early 4-0 lead.
The action remained one-sided through the second inning, with Soroka sitting down the next three batters, including two more strikeouts. The Arizona Diamondbacks extended their lead to seven by the end of the second inning.
Ryan Waldschmidt connected for a single to jumpstart the action, and Hughes continued to struggle with his command, walking Perdomo after a six-pitch at-bat. A Carroll double drove in run number five before another Hughes wild pitch scoring the next run.
The Colorado Rockies broke through with their first hit of the game with one out in the third inning, but it was all for not. Despite McCarthy notching another single, Carrigg lined into an unassisted double play to end things.
The middle innings went by with some action on the basepaths, but the scoreboard remained unchanged. Both pitchers were yanked in the fifth inning, but their starts couldn't have been any more different.
After nearly two months away, Arizona pulled Soroka with a seven-run cushion after he hit the 77-pitch mark. He finished his day at 4.1 scoreless innings pitched, allowing just three hits and logging four strikeouts.
Hughes had two awful innings followed by two scoreless ones. His line ended at 4.0 innings pitched with seven earned runs on five hits alongside three walks and three strikeouts.
After the game, Warren Schaeffer noted that Hughes "just lost command. Lost command with the fastball. Lost command with the breaking ball." Hughes said the same about his own performance, noting that "any day where you're close to 50/50 on strikes and balls isn't going to be a good one."
The Rockies will look to bounce back against the Diamondbacks in the second game of the series, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:10 PM MT.
Source: Yahoo Sports