MILWAUKEE -- On Monday night, Kyle Freeland looked like he was in the form that made him one of the National League's best pitchers a year ago, except for one inning.
The four runs that Freeland allowed in the first inning at Miller Park proved to be the difference in the Rockies' 5-1 loss to the Brewers in the opener of a four-game series. The left-hander allowed four runs on five hits and a walk in the opening inning, including the first of two home runs he allowed to slumping Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar.
"Balls up over the plate came back to haunt him," Colorado manager Bud Black said. "Leading off the game, the pitch to [Lorenzo] Cain was up and he couldn't throw a strike on the walk to [Ryan] Braun, then the pitch to Aguilar was over the middle of the plate and a little bit down, where he likes it.
"That was a quick three-spot there. Then they tacked on some singles on some balls that weren't located great. They took advantage of some balls that were middle-ish. From that point on, he threw the ball well."
Freeland thrived after the shaky opening frame, as Milwaukee managed just two baserunners over his final five innings, and both of those -- Aguilar's second home run and a two-out walk by Ben Gamel -- came in the third.
Freeland retired his final 10 batters in order, recording two of his three strikeouts during that stretch.
“My location wasn’t there like it usually is," Freeland said. "They weren’t really cueing on fastballs in. They were laying off them pretty well. I know this team wants fastball out and over. They weren’t cueing on stuff inside so we had to start mixing it up and I started missing in the middle of the zone and they were tagging it.
"If it wasn’t for our defense, it could have been a really ugly loss.”
The Rockies kept the score respectable with a number of defensive gems, including plays from first baseman Daniel Murphy, second baseman Ryan McMahon, shortstop Trevor Story and center fielder Ian Desmond.
"A lot of hard-hit balls that we turned into outs," Black said. "Those were reaction plays on the infield. Great plays by all three of those guys and [Desmond] ranged a long way to make a great play. We played good defense tonight again. Our defense has been pretty steady all year."
Desmond chased down Yasmani Grandal's fly to right-center for the final out of the fourth inning. He then led off the next half inning and had his night end abruptly after he was ejected for arguing with home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson following a called strike three against Brewers starter Zach Davies.
It marked just the second ejection of Desmond's career and the first since June 4, 2010, when he was tossed for throwing his helmet after a replay.
"I try to treat those guys with respect," Desmond said. "I respect how difficult their job is, but I’m fourth in the big leagues in balls called strikes and on a nightly basis, I don’t say anything.
"[Nelson] gave me an opportunity to walk away, and I just couldn’t let it go. It’s hard enough to hit in the big leagues. To get pitches continually called off the plate strikes, I think I just boiled over and I had enough.”
Black, who ran out to get between Desmond and Nelson, understood his center fielder's frustration.
"He thought the pitches were off the plate," Black said. "It was just the emotion of the game from a very fierce competitor."
Desmond said the biggest regret of the situation was having families from the Children's Tumor Foundation, a cause he's supported for several years, at the park as his guests Monday night.
"To be ejected when they came out here to support me obviously stinks, but as a professional, I couldn’t take it anymore," Desmond said. "It was probably selfish and I shouldn’t have done it, but sometimes things boil over when you are trying to put your best out there. It’s a competitive sport."
The Rockies have lost four straight meetings with Milwaukee, including a three-game sweep in last year’s National League Division Series, and are 2-11 in their last 13 meetings with the Brewers.