Freeland's return from shoulder injury a mixed bag for Rockies

CINCINNATI -- After Rockies pitching spent the weekend making no mistakes in key situations, lefty Kyle Freeland returned from the injured list and nearly kept pace.

Freeland yielded three runs in the first inning, including a two-run Spencer Steer homer, but was otherwise solid for the first five innings of the Rockies’ 7-2 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night.

Pitching for the first time since left shoulder tightness on April 12 sent him to the 15-day injured list, Freeland struck out four and held the Reds to four runs on five hits. The Rockies can lament a dropped pickoff throw that could have been an out and a delayed steal by Elly De La Cruz that would have been an out had second baseman Edouard Julien made it to the bag in time.

While Freeland felt he lacked the sharpness of the first three games he started -- 2.30 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings -- his performance fit with what the Rockies displayed during the weekend, when starters Michael Lorenzen, Jose Quintana and Chase Dollander plus the effective bullpen held the Mets to four total runs in Colorado’s three-game sweep.

“Things are great with the rotation, with our bullpen, our entire pitching staff,” Freeland said. “Guys have been throwing the ball really well. Guys have been picking each other up in tight spots. So yeah, it's been great to see, and we're looking to continue to carry that momentum.”

While the offense didn’t keep up the momentum – with a 1-for-11 performance with runners in scoring position and 12 strikeouts (nine in six innings against Reds starter Chase Burns) – the Rockies have pitching that can give them a chance provided the offense finds its footing.

De La Cruz’s bloop single in right just beyond a reaching Troy Johnston spoiled a well-executed cutter, and the 3-1 fastball that Steer crushed (“Not a good count to be in,” Freeland said) put Colorado in an early three-run hole. De La Cruz, who homered in the eighth off Tanner Gordon, added an RBI single in the third.

“I definitely got stronger as the game went on -- started getting more in my legs, started fine-tuning everything as we got more and more into it,” Freeland said.

Manager Warren Schaeffer considered removing Freeland after four innings, but Freeland went 1-2-3 to earn a fifth frame.

“He was good -- he competed, kept us right in the ballgame,” Schaeffer said. “We just had an opportunity to get out of that first inning with the dropped pickoff throw and then late to the bag on the delayed steal.”

The passing grade did not reduce Freeland’s feeling that he can be better.

“You always want to come off the IL feeling fresh and feeling ready to go, go deep into a ballgame and have everything feel crisp,” he said. “Tonight wasn't quite the case. The fastball did not feel great, and the change definitely did not feel great either. We’ll work on it moving forward as I get my feet back under me after this little IL stint, but nothing to worry about.”