Early barrage falls short as Rox can't close Crew

May 12th, 2018

DENVER -- The bats showed up the way Rockies fans usually expect Friday night, but they happened to do so on a night that old-fashioned craziness returned to Coors Field.
The Rockies saw a six-run fourth-inning lead disappear on a rare blown save charged to . 's two-out single in the 10th gave the Brewers an 11-10 victory. It was the third straight loss for the Rockies, who had not blown a lead of more than two runs all season.
The nine runs the Rockies scored through the fourth inning matched their total in the previous four games combined. However, all that was washed away when the Brewers' launched a two-run homer off Davis in top of the the ninth.

"It was a game we should've won, and just a bad pitch that cost us the game, ultimately," Davis said.
Davis went last season with the Cubs with just one blown save in 33 chances, but that was against the Brewers on Sept. 23 in his final regular-season save opportunity. Pina's fourth homer of the season came after 's two-out single that kept the inning alive.
Then Shaw, who homered in the third inning off struggling Rockies starter (five innings, 10 hits, seven runs), delivered the third hit off Jake McGee in the 10th, with two outs as the Brewers had their biggest comeback this season.
"I mean, what a game, right?" Shaw said. "Four hours and 20 minutes. We're down 9-3. It's a testament to the bullpen once again … and offensively, we just chipped away. … Especially in a park like this -- 9-3 is not like 9-3 somewhere else."
(3-0) pitched around a walk in the ninth and fanned two in the 10th for his sixth save.
"This one got away from us, for sure," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "It happens over 162 games. It hurts a little bit when it happens, but what I've noticed about this group is it bounces back. We'll be fine."
The Rockies' drove in four runs -- on a sacrifice fly on a 10-pitch at-bat in the three-run third and a three-run triple during a five-run fourth that saw the Rockies take a 9-3 lead.
"That's kind of what we're used to, seeing a lot of runs here," Story said. "That's a tough game to lose right there. They just took the momentum and ran with it."
Also, the Rockies' went 4-for-5 with an RBI, Charlie Blackmon tripled and doubled during a three-hit night, and Chris Iannetta and each had solo shots for their fourth homers of the season. It was an offensive performance that has been mostly missing, as the Rockies' 21-18 record has been built mainly by starting pitching.

"Too bad they [the Brewers] scored a bunch of runs at the same time," Gonzalez said. "But as a group, you try to take the positive out of it."
Bettis entered with a 2.05 ERA, but the Brewers were aggressive with anything in the strike zone and he ended the night at 3.12.
"Command was off, a lot of mis-executed pitches, so I've got a lot of work to do for the next start," Bettis said.
Still, he walked off the mound with a 9-6 lead. The bullpen, a key reason the Rockies had lost just one of 18 previous games when leading after six innings, and none of the 17 with a lead after seven, didn't hold it.
Lefty reliever Chris Rusin, who has struggled since his return from an intercostal injury (four runs in four innings), gave up a run and saw an inherited runner score after replacing Bettis in the sixth.
gave up a leadoff double in the seventh, but escaped -- mainly because of two standout defensive plays from Story at short. escaped the eighth despite two walks. But Davis couldn't prevent extra innings.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Story the defensive story: Aguilar's double off Shaw to open the seventh -- after Blackmon crashed into the wall but couldn't make the catch -- forced Story to keep the Brewers from scoring. After throwing out Aguilar at third on Perez's grounder, Story went to one knee for Pina's smash, then spun for a fancy flip to DJ LeMahieu to start the inning-ending double play.

SOUND SMART
It was the Rockies' largest blown lead since Aug. 31, 2016, when they led, 8-2, in the seventh but lost to the Dodgers, 10-8.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Story found himself in the middle of a slick first-inning double play, which helped an already-teetering Bettis.

Two singles and a sacrifice fly had the Rockies down, 1-0, when Shaw sent a screamer toward the mound. The ball bounced off Bettis' glove to Story, who made an NBA-style double-clutch to throw to first to end the inning.
HE SAID IT
"We had a great game today but didn't pull out the win, so we've got to just be ready for tomorrow." -- Parra, after his season-high four hits
UP NEXT
Lefty (2-4, 3.95 ERA) has taken some forward strides this season. He has worked at least seven innings in his last three starts and brings a 2.08 home ERA into his start Saturday night against the Brewers and righty Chase Anderson (3-3, 3.97).