SAN DIEGO -- Lefty Kyle Freeland prides himself on performing when the Rockies truly need him. His left shoulder prevented him from doing so on Sunday.
Having dealt with tightness while throwing on Saturday, Freeland had to shut down midway through Sunday’s pregame warmup. The problem, announced as left posterior shoulder soreness, will be treated over the next few days before it is clear when he can return to the mound.
Freeland would have had to have been superb to make much of a difference on Sunday. The Padres – even though their starter, Nick Pivetta, left after three-plus innings with right elbow stiffness – held the Rockies to two hits and completed the four-game sweep with a 7-2 victory at Petco Park.
The Rockies dropped the first two games on walk-off home runs in the 12th and ninth innings. The Padres built a big lead late on Saturday, but the Rockies had the tying run at the plate as the 9-5 loss ended. With competitive games behind the club, Freeland wanted to set the series right for the Rockies, who are off on Monday and embark on a three-game series at Houston on Tuesday.
“I was definitely looking forward to being a stopper for the team,” Freeland said. “There were three quality baseball games leading up to today. Even today was quality, but they [the Padres] kept tacking on runs. In those first three games, we fought back and were playing really good baseball.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be the stopper today due to injury.”
Freeland, 32, has put out a performance worthy of a staff leader. Through his first three starts, he had a 2.30 ERA with a .220 batting average against and 13 strikeouts to four walks.
“Whether it’s day to day, we’ll take a look at him tomorrow and see where we’re at,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said.
Freeland said he’ll consult with head athletic trainer Keith Dugger and the front office before deciding on a course of treatment. As shoulder injuries go, however, it’s possible that simple rest and treatment could have him back without an extensive disruption to his season.
Schaeffer began the season protecting the bullpen by emphasizing multi-inning relievers, but the series with the Padres created stress. In the first game, righty Jimmy Herget started in Freeland’s place and pitched an inning, and developing starter Chase Dollander pitched 4 1/3 frames.
Sunday started with Herget, who gave up a first-inning run, and Dollander, who yielded a run in the second. However, Dollander didn’t suffer velocity-wise, with his two-and four-seam fastballs averaging better than 98 mph, despite the fact that he was pitching with an unfamiliar two days’ rest.
“It was my bullpen day, and they told me to treat it like that – they told me the situation before the game started,” Dollander said. “Typically, I throw my bullpens pretty hard – around 95-96 mph, then you get that adrenaline with a lot of fans and in competition.
"That brings you to the next level.”
Valente Bellozo absorbed 4 1/3 innings as well, yielding five runs on eight hits with four walks against one strikeout.
Coming off a four-game win streak, the Rockies lost four straight in San Diego to fall to 2-8 on the road against 4-2 at home. All those numbers sound familiar to the club’s plight through seven straight losing seasons, but with Schaeffer as full-time manager and a new front office running the team, the Rockies believe the attitude is new.
Freeland believes in the direction. The direction will be tested against the Astros – whom the Rockies swept in a three-game home set before traveling to San Diego.
“It’s a different team, and we have a different mentality about how we’re approaching everything, so we’re not concerned about that,” Freeland said. “Wins on the road are going to come. We’ve got to make sure that we win on the road just as we win them at home.
“These types of games that we’re in, there is good baseball that we’re playing. They’re going to start translating into wins.”