MIAMI – Tyler Chatwood looked uncomfortable as he gave up four hits the first time through the order. And when the right-hander threw a pitch off the backstop in the second inning, his outing was over.
The diagnosis: back spasms. That’s why Chatwood pitched just 1 2/3 innings for Colorado in a 9-6 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
“It just popped up on him,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “Didn’t look right. Body language was a little off.”
Chatwood was charged with three runs. He threw 48 pitches, the last one for his third walk, and a Rockies trainer and Weiss then hustled to the mound.
After a brief conversation, Chatwood headed for the clubhouse. He leads the Rockies with eight wins, and the start was just his 14th since he underwent his second Tommy John surgery in April 2014.
“He didn’t look comfortable,” catcher Nick Hundley said. “His movements weren’t the same. They really did a good job of getting him out of there before he could do more damage to his back. When you compensate with your arm and how valuable his arm is to us, you have to be careful with that.”
Eddie Butler (2-4) replaced Chatwood and was rocked for six runs in 3 1/3 innings. He said he regretted only a couple of pitches.
“Other than that, I just attacked the zone and got the ball put in play, and they found holes,” Butler said. “A couple of balls were hit over the infield and a couple of balls through the infield.”
The way the ball was flying, it looked like the game was being played in the thin Rocky Mountain air rather than indoors at sea level. The Marlins led 3-0, overcame a 6-3 deficit and have won the first two games of the series.
Giancarlo Stanton singled in his first three at-bats to give his lowly average a boost, and the Marlins totaled 17 hits. Stanton beat the shift with an opposite-field single in the first inning, setting up Miami’s first run. He singled and scored in the third and fifth, giving him five hits in the past two games to hike his average from .193 to .210.
Five Marlins regulars are batting over .300, among them J.T. Realmuto, whose four hits included a three-run homer that caromed off the home-run sculpture. Justin Bour hit a two-run drive for his 11th homer.
Miami’s Wei-Yin Chen quickly gave an early lead away and lasted only 2 1/3 innings in the shortest of start of his career. He departed after seven consecutive batters reached, the last of which was Hundley on a bases-loaded triple that put the Rockies ahead 6-3.
“We put up a big inning, but it wasn’t enough,” Weiss said.
Colorado managed only one hit off five Miami relievers, and Dustin McGowan (1-2) pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings. A.J. Ramos closed with a perfect ninth for his 30th consecutive save, including 21 this year.
The Marlins bullpen has combined to allow no runs and one hit in 10 innings in the first two games of the series.
“They’ve got some good arms,” Weiss said. “Their bullpen has shut us down here.”
The Rockies have lost six of their past seven games in Miami.
Rockies RHP Christian Bergman (oblique) threw a simulated game Saturday and is getting ready to begin a rehabilitation assignment, Weiss said.
Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (0-0, 1.42 ERA) is scheduled to make his second career start Sunday against RHP Tom Koehler (5-6, 4.25 ERA).
