DENVER – Rockies second-year right-handed pitcher Chase Dollander is talented and confident enough to control a difficult lineup, yet walk away disappointed.
Dollander didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning and held the Phillies to two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of the Rockies’ eventual 9-7, 11-inning victory – their first at Citizens Bank Park in just over three calendar years.
Troy Johnston’s 11th-inning RBI double and Jake McCarthy’s following single produced a victory that occurred after the Rockies lost a 6-0 lead. But before the first win at the South Philly park since April 20, 2023 became really crazy, the education of a budding No. 1 starter was the story. Dollander struck out five, but he also walked five.
It was Dollander’s second old-school start of the season, although he has been treated as a starter while pitching the bulk of six other games. The first two times through the order Friday he was barely touched. The third time through, Kyle Schwarber’s sixth-inning leadoff homer and J.T. Realmuto’s two-out double ended his night.
Dollander’s command was iffy, and turning an ankle sprinting toward first base on Schwarber’s grounder to end the third didn’t help. But Dollander, 24, still looked toward a higher standard.
“I gave the team what I needed to give them, got almost through six – which is huge, especially with the stuff I had,” he said. “I was not commanding the ball whatsoever.
“I want to say [the rolled ankle hurt the performance] a little bit. It just feels really tight, and I felt that during the game. I never want to blame it on things like that, but with a circumstance like that it’s hard not to. But I’ll come in, watch the video and see what happened.”
But the Phillies were barely hitting Dollander’s pitches.
Dollander’s command issues forced him to diversify his strategy. His four-seam and two-seam fastball velocities were down a tick below his season averages, although 98 and 97 mph were plenty. He increased the use of his two-seam, slider and sweeper as the game continued.
"Every outing is different, for everybody," Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. "Today for Chase, he had to battle command issues, but his stuff is so good that he was able to stay in it. He competed and he kept grinding without his best command."
Dollander answered his four-pitch, one-out walk to 9-hole hitter Justin Crawford in the third by dispatching Trea Turner and Schwarber on four total pitches. In the fourth, he induced an Adolis García double-play grounder to negate Bryce Harper’s leadoff single, then quickly rendered moot his fifth-inning leadoff walk to Bryson Stott.
All said, just one of Dollander’s walks played a part in a run, and he might have rendered that meaningless had Brandon Marsh’s sixth-inning grounder been hit hard enough for the Rockies’ defense to turn a double play.
“It was a little bit of a search for command, but the sinker was working really well – running a lot – and they were beating it into the ground,” Dollander said. “We figured once guys started to get on base, we’d start throwing some sinkers just to get some double plays, and that’s exactly what we did.
“I made some big pitches in big spots, but at the end of the day I need to throw more strikes.”
The use of the opener was designed to have one of the matchup relievers, lefty Brennan Bernardino or righty Jimmy Herget, face the top of the opponent’s order, then go to Dollander in the second. This way, Dollander is deeper into the game when the order turns a third time. On Friday, Schaeffer wanted to hold those matchups for later.
This time, however, Bernardino managed one out but gave up two hits and a walk and saw them all score, and Herget yielded Justin Crawford’s game-tying two-run homer. But Johnston and McCarthy were offensive matchups that worked in the 11th, and Victor Vodnik for two innings and Juan Mejia for the 11th-inning save came through.
“It’s incredible,” Dollander said. “We don’t give up. That’s our thing. We’re always going to be there until the very last minute, and we pulled through. It’s awesome getting to watch these guys compete and play. The feeling behind this team is astronomically better than it was last year, so it’s a lot more fun to be in this clubhouse.”