That game was good for 8 innings, but really bad for one
After three hours of hard-fought baseball, it took LaTroy Hawkins about two minutes to throw it all away. The Rockies dragged a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning, but a double, triple, and sacrifice fly ended the evening quicker than you can say "Eli Manning."
Jordan Lyles wasn't particularly efficient with his deliveries as he racked up 110 pitches through his six innings of work. But that's a very small nit to pick when the line is so solid: one run, three hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. The two-seam fastball was particularly effective tonight, starting in on lefties but cutting over the plate for called strikes.
The Rockies had their opportunities to score more than their two runs. Both came off solo home runs; Michael Cuddyer's seventh (in his return from the DL) and Nolan Arenado's 18th. But the Rockies were a big fat 0-7 with runners in scoring position this evening, including two instances of leaving lead-off doubles on the base paths. Brandon Barnes was particularly egregious in this regard, striking out three separate times with runners aboard.
Barnes's line is down to a paltry .248/.287/.415 with sub-par defense according to UZR (he let a line-drive single get past him tonight, resulting in a two base error). He's not even hitting lefties better this year, which had been his selling point earlier in his career (43 wRC+, which is...yikes).
Tommy Kahnle pitched a fantastic seventh inning. We are now, apparently, at the section of the season where Brooks Brown is the guy we go to with a one run lead in the eighth inning. He didn't do terribly, getting two outs, but David Wright doubled to bring up lefty Lucas Duda. Walt Weiss went to Christian Friedrich, who showed a lot of guts in an extended full count at bat before finally striking out the big slugger on a slider. Friedrich is starting to look like a legitimate bullpen weapon for next year.
Hawkins happened though. He's been great this year, but these outings hurt. They really, really hurt. Travis d'Arnaud doubled, Curtis Granderson tripled, and Wilmer Flores hit it just far enough. That's all folks.
As far as walkoff losses go...oh well. The starting pitching was good. The non-Hawkins members of the bullpen did their jobs. The bats had their moments, outhitting the Mets nine to four. Nolan is still a boss, and he should have had two more hits on smoked line drives. The RISP hitting was bad, but these things happen. The Rockies played a pretty good baseball game. But sometimes, crap just happens. And it's not like we're really playing for anything anymore.
So if you're into silver linings, there they are. Take 'em or leave 'em.
Source: FanGraphs