Braun’s homer in 11th adds to Rockies misery in Milwaukee
Heartbreak at Miller Park is nothing new for the Colorado Rockies. They lost their fourth straight game there this season when Ryan Braun led off the 11th with a homer against Matt Lindstrom, giving the Brewers a 2-1 win.
Braun fouled off five straight pitches before walloping a sinker on Lindstrom’s 10th pitch and raising his right hand in knowing triumph as he left the batter’s box. It was Braun’s 28th homer and left the Rockies 3-8 in extra innings overall and 0-5 on the road.
The Rockies four losses at Miller Park have been by a total of five runs. Lindstrom, who worked the 10th inning, had not allowed a home run in 23 1/3 innings on the road.
The Rockies, who left 10 men on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, had one out and runners on first and second in the 11th. With the runners moving, Kameron Loe got Jordan Pacheco to ground to third, and the runners moved up. But Chris Nelson was stranded at third and Seth Smith was left at second when Wilin Rosario grounded to second.
Esmil Rogers held the Brewers scoreless for five innings before Prince Fielder homered off the batter’s eye in straightaway center to tie the game with one out in the sixth, which was Rogers’ final inning.
The Rockies scored in the fourth thanks to left fielder Braun. Smith led off with a double to left center, the ball going to the wall because Braun didn’t go after it and center fielder Nyjer Morgan had to chase it down. Then with one out, Braun took a step in and Rosario’s line drive sailed over his head for a run-scoring double.
The Rockies cut down Rickie Weeks at the plate in the second. He reached on an infield single, a charitable scoring decision on what should have been an error for third baseman Jordan Pacheco, and tried to score on Casey McGehee’s double to left-center. The relay went from Dexter Fowler to Troy Tulowitzki to Rosario, and although Weeks looked on replay to be safe with his headfirst slide, umpire Tim McClelland called him out. McGehee took third on the throw home, but Rogers got Yuniesky Betancourt to ground out.
Mark Ellis was twice thrown out on the plate. He walked and took third on Carlos Gonzalez‘s single in the first. Ellis broke for home on Tulowitzki’s grounder to third baseman McGehee, who threw Ellis out.
With two out and the bases loaded in the third, Ellis tried to score on a ball in the dirt that got away from catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Pitcher Zack Grienke got the ball in front of the plate and flipped it with his glove to Lucroy to get Ellis.
Other highlights:
_ The Rockies other losses at Miller Park this season: 7-6 in 14 innings, 3-2 and 3-1 from May 20-22.
_ Rogers lowered his ERA on the road to 4.34 (48 innings, 26 earned runs) with a 5-3 record. At Coors Field, Rogers is 1-2, 9.86 (21 innings, 23 earned runs) and opponents are hitting .398.
_ Dexter Fowler went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Brewers starter Grienke, continuing his struggles against him. Fowler is 1-for-11 with six strikeouts against Greinke.
_ After missing two of the previous three games with a sore left hip, Tulowitzki returned to the lineup but was replaced by Thomas Field in the bottom of the sixth. Todd Helton was also back in the lineup after missing six of the past seven games with back stiffness. He played eight innings and Pacheco moved from third base to first in the ninth and Nelson, who was unable to play Sunday to recurring soreness in his left heel, went in at third.
Matt Lindstrom. All the arm in the world, but with that funky, complex windup (think Hawpe’s swing), he can’t replicate the windup every time. Some little facet of it goes awry. Hence, he can’t consistently locate his pitches.
Now, Braun is a great hitter, so I can’t put it all on Lindstrom. But…if Lindstrom is going to have the career his arm makes possible, he’s got to lose the complexity and verticality, and just drive toward the plate.
Maybe Millwood can be his example, with his minimalist Jim Kaat windup??
I don’t think the windup is as complex as it is just herky jerky and rushed. He throws his leg out there like he’s trying to kick a soccer ball 100 ft.
progmatinee, I was thinking the same thing. It amazes me that Lindstrom ever hits the strike zone. That power arm reminds me of some other guys (Franklin Morales) who everyone thinks they can make an unhittable stopper. Morales was able to do it for a period in 2009 (and do you ever wonder if he had remained the closer in 09 what might have been…) but overtime to many moving parts made the power arm useless. Lindstrom has been given chanes to close everywhere. But so far, it has never worked. He has had a good year. But you just wait for one of those 4 walks to bring in the winning run kind of game.
I give the Rox credit. They could have laid down last night (what with Rogers full bases) but no, they fought. Shows me something.
Go Rox!