The Colorado Rockies were looking to build on their offensive momentum that appeared on Friday night. Unfortuantely, the bats were silenced by a spectacular performance by the Milwaukee Brewers’ pitching that limited Colorado to just one hit and handed them a 5-0 loss for the ninth shutout of the season. The Rockies now sit at 18-65 on the season while the Brewers improve to 47-36.

Senzatela’s Demons and 500th K

Antonio Senzatela had enjoyed some decent starts in his last two outings, but he wasn’t so lucky on Saturday. The Brewers struck quickly in the first inning when Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich both singled with one out followed by a walk to William Contreras to load the bases. Brice Turang tapped an infield single up the middle to score the first run of the game and Rhys Hoskins drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

The Brew Crew would add two more in the fourth thanks to a two-run home run from Joey Ortiz, followed by back-to-back doubles to lead off the fifth inning to make it a 5-0 Brewers lead.

Senzatela’s day ended after a strikeout of Hoskins in the fifth, followed by a walk to Jake Bauers. He threw 85 pitches, 49 for strikes, allowing five runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts. It was the ninth start that Senzatela has failed to pitch five complete innings, and his 11 losses lead all pitchers in MLB.

On the bright side, however, his strikeout of Hoskins in the fifth marked the 500th of his career, the 11th Rockie ever to reach that milestone.

One darn hit

The late Bob Uecker’s character in “Major League” sums up the Rockies offense today.

Brewers starter Quinn Priester was lights out as he dominated the Rockies’ offense. He went a career-high seven innings, allowing no runs on one hit with 11 strikeouts and two walks. He became the first Brewers pitcher this season to strike out 10+ batters in a game.

The lone hit for the Rockies came via a Michael Toglia single in the fifth inning. The offense struck out 11 times in total, but did draw four walks they just didn’t amount to anything as the team went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

Jordan Beck tried to get something started in the fourth with a bunt attempt, but a stellar play by Priester represented the kind of luck the Rockies had at the plate. When they did make contact, it was directly at a fielder.

Tyler Freeman had the best hit ball, sending one to the warning track, but he did draw two walks on the day.

Angel on the shoulder

Due to the shortened start by Senzatela the Rockies got a boost from the bullpen picking up the slack again. Angel Chivilli delivered 2 2⁄3 strong innings of work, allowing just two hits with a strikeout. Tyler Kinley then delivered a perfect eighth inning to get the Rockies over the finish line.

Up next

The Rockies round out the road trip in Milwaukee with a 12:10 p.m. MDT start time on Sunday. Germán Márquez will take the mound fo the Rockies, facing off against right-hander Chad Patrick for the Brewers.

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