MILWAUKEE – The Colorado Rockies chipped away against Matt Garza and an early six-run deficit only to have their comeback bid fade when an aggressive play became a base-running mistake.
Carlos Gomez launched a three-run homer, and Garza battled into the seventh inning for his first win in four starts to help the Brewers continue their mastery of the Rockies with a 7-4 victory Saturday.
Colorado had a chance to cut the lead even further in the eighth, but Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy threw out Troy Tulowitzki at second on an attempted double steal to end the inning.
“I probably got a bad jump, so I probably should have stayed,” Tulowitzki said. “On top of that, they made a good play, and Lucroy made a perfect throw. It was bang-bang, but it can’t be that close there. Looking back on it, I probably should stay if I don’t get a good jump. I didn’t react right when he went.”
After the Rockies scored two runs each in the sixth and seventh to chase Garza (5-5) and pull within 7-4, Drew Stubbs opened the eighth with a double against reliever Will Smith, and Tulowitzki followed with a walk.
After Smith fanned Corey Dickerson and Wilin Rosario, Charlie Culberson pinch hit for Ryan Wheeler. Stubbs and Tulowitzki attempted a double steal. Stubbs easily made third, but Lucroy made a perfect throw to narrowly nail Tulowitzki. Rockies manager Walt Weiss challenged the play, but the call stood.
“Not a great play right there with a pinch hitter up,” Weiss said. “They thought they had an opportunity to take the base right there. Stubbs took it, but Lucroy made a nice play throwing to the back side of second base. But not a great play right there.”
Francisco Rodriguez, who got the victory Friday night despite blowing the save, then pitched a perfect ninth inning for his majors-best 27th save, and the Brewers improved to 6-0 this season against Colorado.
“They’re playing good baseball,” Tulowitzki said. “They’ve got a good team over there. I think if you ask Garza, he probably thinks he could pitch better. We got to him a little bit, put some hits up there, put some runs up there. He’s a solid pitcher. I think we did a fairly decent job.”
Gomez staked the Brewers to a 3-0 lead in the first with his 13th home run. Ryan Braun and Lucroy reached on consecutive singles, and Gomez then drove a 3-2 pitch from Jhoulys Chacin (1-7) over the center-field wall.
“I’ve been trying to make good pitches, but not good location, not throwing down,” said Chacin, who was tagged for all seven runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. “My game is throw down, get ground balls, and I haven’t done that this year. Especially my sinker.”
The Brewers added three runs in the fifth to make it 6-0. Jean Segura singled to open, advanced on Garza’s sacrifice bunt and moved to third on Scooter Gennett’s infield single. Braun followed with a triple into the corner, when right-fielder Charlie Blackmon missed on a diving attempt at the sinking liner. Braun scored on Lucroy’s groundout.
Colorado got two runs in the sixth after loading the bases with three consecutive one-out singles. Stubbs’ bloop single to shallow right drove in one run, and Tulowitzki followed with a sacrifice fly.
The Brewers answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on Lyle Overbay’s RBI single to increase the lead to 7-2.
The Rockies added two more in the seventh on a single by Rosario, a double by Wheeler and D.J. LeMahieu’s two-run single.
“Eight out of those nine hits they got, I thought probably weren’t hard enough but they’re still hits,” said Garza, signed to a $50 million, four-year deal, “Sometimes they fall in, so you have to just keep making pitches. It’s frustrating, but we still came out with a ‘W’ so it is what it is. I’ll take the soft hits over them barreling them up.”
Weiss said it’s not just his team that has had trouble with the Brewers, who improved to a season-best 19 games over .500 at 51-32.
“They’ve been good against everybody,” Weiss said. “They’ve got the best record in the National League. They’re doing everything well. All aspects of their game are rolling right now.”
Rockies rumpus
The Brewers said Carlos Gomez is day to day. ... To eliminate the shadows between the mound and home plate during day games at Miller Park, the first-base half of the roof was closed, while the third-base side remained completely open. ... Jabari Parker, the first-round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks and the No. 2 overall pick in the recent NBA draft, threw out the first pitch, wearing a Brewers jersey with his name and No. 12 on the back. The 6-8 right-hander snapped off a one-hopper to the plate.
