Tigers 4, Rockies 1

Quiet bats, and no runs for the first eight innings ended in a Colorado Rockies (25-39) 4-1 interleague road loss yesterday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers (31-34). The lone Colorado run came on a Detroit error in the ninth. The rubber game of the series is at 11:05 MT today at Comerica Park (TV: Root Sports).

Rockies starter Christian Friedrich (4-3) threw almost as many balls as strikes, walked five (one with the bases loaded), hit a batter and fired a wild pitch in five innings. The Tigers managed just three hits off him, although one was Miguel Cabrera’s 14th homer of the season, in the first inning. Friedrich also committed a throwing error and played a part in a second error on the same play, when Cabrera hit a bouncer that Friedrich couldn’t field cleanly and circled the bases Little League-style.

Official: Saturday’s Box Score.

But for all that went wrong, Friedrich left the game with a 3-0 deficit. Many days this season, that would have been good enough for the Rockies’ offense. But Saturday, when Carlos Gonzalez finished with three hits but the rest of the team managed just three more, and the only run came unearned in the ninth inning, it was merely a school day for Friedrich.

At 25-39, with losses in nine of their last 10 games, unless an unforeseen turnaround occurs, the Rockies are forced into the realization that for the rest of this season the painful process of educating young pitchers is bigger than the result of a given game.

Tickets are available for the Rockies’ next home game vs. the Washington Nationals on June 25th, and can be purchased by calling (800) 388-ROCK, or click here.

[ColoradoRockies.com]