The Colorado Rockies played their final game of June with their eighth road victory and their first victory in extra innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. With a win today they broke a five game losing streak and avoided being swept to close out the month.

A Hurdle for Schaeffer

The early portion of the game was marked by some poor calls by home plate umpire Ramon de Jesus. When starting right fielder Tyler Freeman spoke up about it in the third inning, he was quickly ejected from the game. Manager Warren Schaeffer then decided to get his money’s worth and was ejected as well. Sam Hilliard replaced Freeman in right, while Schaeffer was replaced by his bench coach Clint Hurdle. This marked the first time since 2019 with the Pittsburgh Pirates that Hurdle was the acting skipper for a big league game, and the first time since 2009 he had done so for the Rockies.

A Spoiled Marquee Matinee

Rockies starter Germán Márquez had two pitches spoil what had been an very solid outing. Márquez had only given up one earned run over his last three starts, and kept the Brewers off the board for 5 1⁄3 innings. With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Márquez threw a flat fastball middle-middle to Sal Frelick that was punished for a home run. It was only the Brewers’ second hit of the game. With two outs, Christian Yelich took a well located fastball at the very bottom of the strike zone over the left field wall.

Acting manager Clint Hurdle left Márquez in the game despite his elevated pitch count to try and earn the Quality Start, but when he walked the following batter, a visibly frustrated Márquez was removed from the game. Over 5 2⁄3 innings he struck out five batters and walked three with two runs—both earned—allowed on three hits.

Grab the Bullpen by the Horns

The Rockies ended up using five different relievers this afternoon, with Jake Bird, Juan Mejia, and Seth Halvorsen pitching the final 3 1⁄3 innings of regulation and keeping the Brewers off the board. Things got hairy in the tenth inning when Victor Vodnik gave up the tying run on a wild pitch. Vondik dealt with traffic and appeared to be struggling with something in his eyes, but kept any additional damage from occurring. He even hit 101 on the radar. Tyler Kinley threw almost nothing but sliders to close out the game, earning his third save of the season.

diFicuLty cApitalizinG

The Rockies went from the eighth inning on Friday to the eighth inning today without scoring a single run. While they were held to just one hit yesterday, they certainly were not lacking in opportunities today. The Rockies had a base hit in every inning but the third, and had the leadoff runner on base in five different innings. They also drew two walks.

In the top of the eighth inning Ryan McMahon hit an infield single and reached second via an error. He was then driven home by a Brenton Doyle double.

When things looked to be over with two outs in the top of the ninth, backup shortstop Orlando Arcia hit a game-tying solo home run to give the Rockies the opportunity to force extra innings. Sam Hilliard scored as the extra-innings base runner in the top of the tenth to put the Rockies ahead, and while that lead did not last, Kyle Farmer was able to put the Rockies in front with an RBI single in the top of the 11th inning for the victory.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies are off tomorrow before they start their final home stand of the first half. They’ll play three against the Houston Astros starting Tuesday evening. Rookie lefty Colton Gordon will face off against rookie righty Chase Dollander. First pitch is at 6:40 PM MDT.

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