Bettis: 'Hit the delete button and move forward'

DENVER -- In his first five home starts this season, right-hander Chad Bettis navigated the home-run perils of Coors Field with relative ease.

Then, Tuesday night happened.

The Angels tagged Bettis for four homers in their first 17 batters and sent him trudging to the dugout before the third inning concluded, propelling Los Angeles to a 10-2 victory over the Rockies. Bettis lasted just 2 1/3 frames -- his shortest outing as a starter -- surrendering eight hits and a career-high 10 runs on just 56 pitches.

"It sucks to waste a day like this because I felt really good," said Bettis who had previously served up just one long ball at home this year. "They did damage."

Albert Pujols took the first crack four batters in, launching a no-doubter to left that was projected by Statcast™ to land 434 feet way. Bettis fought back and ended the first with two straight strikeouts, but the Angels quickly pounced in the ensuing frame.

Two pitches into the second, Bettis was again watching a mistake sail out of Coors Field. This blast belonged to Matt Joyce, who crushed a 92-mph fastball into a center-field pine tree for a 4-0 advantage. Two singles followed once the lineup card turned over, and Mike Trout sent them all trotting home with a three-run homer that snuck inside the left-field foul pole.

By the time Bettis took the mound in the third, he was already in an 8-0 hole.

"There were a lot of balls in the middle of the plate -- belt high -- and they didn't miss them," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss, who finally pulled Bettis after Chris Iannetta's third-inning shot supplied the Angels with a 10-0 lead.

Not only did the four homers surrendered double Bettis' season total, but they also matched the number of long balls he'd given up over his previous 13 home outings -- a stretch that covered 43 innings and dated back to April 23, 2014.

Bettis' next move is rather simple.

"At this point," he said, "it's time to hit the delete button here and move forward."