No rest for weary Rox bullpen as Lamet labors

ATLANTA -- There’s no such thing as too much baseball.

But the combination of poor starting pitching the past two games and a schedule that remains busy might have the Rockies begging to differ.

Dinelson Lamet yielded three two-run homers -- two to Travis d'Arnaud and another to Eddie Rosario -- in four tough innings of an 8-1 loss to the Braves on Friday night at Truist Park.

Lamet, who began the season as a reliever but moved into the rotation on May 31, was in a five-run hole after three innings. In less bullpen-taxed times, Lamet may not have finished that frame. But he had to keep pitching, through five hits, five walks (with each homer preceded by a walk) and a run-scoring wild pitch.

And Lamet’s struggles came on the heels of Kyle Freeland's 4 1/3 innings and seven runs allowed during his outing in Thursday night’s 8-3 loss. Freeland has been the Rockies’ best pitcher this season, but he’s had poor games occasionally.

“It’s very frustrating,” Lamet said in Spanish through bullpen catcher and interpreter Aaron Mu?oz. “You want to help that bullpen out as best you can.

“With me tonight, with two outs, I’d start to get a little too picky, too fine with my pitches and start throwing a little extra -- more than I wanted, more than I intended.”

The Rockies can’t afford bad starts in consecutive games. After playing 17 straight days before being idle on June 5, Colorado has played 11 of 16 in a row before its next scheduled off-day on Thursday.

Over the past 29 days, the Rockies are 10-18. At times the bullpen covered for the iffy rotation, but that can’t last long when so many innings fall to relievers.

“We’re keeping an eye on it every day,” manager Bud Black said. “It’s not ideal. The guys in the ‘pen have been terrific as far as manning up, taking the ball and giving us what we need.

“But they’re for sure a little tired.”

The outing was a giant step backward for Lamet, who struggled in the bullpen to start the season, went on the injured list with back stiffness and used the time to return as a starter. It’s a role in which he previously had some success with the Padres, but he also endured some injuries and poor stretches before joining the Rockies last August.

In his first three Colorado starts, Lamet trimmed the walks somewhat -- five in 11 innings after 12 in 10 2/3 frames out of the bullpen. In his previous start against the Padres at Coors Field, he lasted a season-high five innings and struck out five against three walks in a no-decision.

But walks followed by pitches up in the zone to d’Arnaud, and a walk followed by a slider that Rosario may have been expecting (he struck out on one in the second inning) left Lamet with an ugly line.

“Honestly, it was the quality of the hitters and the quality of my pitches tonight,” Lamet said. “I needed to attack the zone a little bit more, and I didn’t get a chance to do that.”

At least Lamet endured long enough for Peter Lambert and Jake Bird to only work two innings apiece, as they held the Braves scoreless. And after Freeland’s struggles on Thursday, relievers Matt Carasiti, Pierce Johnson and Brad Hand held Atlanta to one run.

If Connor Seabold can keep the Rockies competitive on Saturday, many of the plus-side arms will have had recovery time after a grueling series earlier this week in Boston -- where the Rockies won two of three but endured two extra-inning games and two rain delays that affected pitching plans.

Colorado has little choice but to keep retraining Lamet. The rotation is dealing with the long-term absences of Germán Márquez (Tommy John surgery), Antonio Senzatela (likely out until August with a right elbow sprain) and Ryan Feltner (gradually returning to health after a fractured skull).

At Triple-A Albuquerque, Noah Davis and Karl Kauffmann are showing they need development time.

But Black believes Lamet has a chance to find his starter form.

“He’s got a starter’s past,” Black said. “He’s got the stuff. He’s got durability. He held his stuff through 90 pitches.

“He's a guy that is determined to take the ball and continue to be aggressive -- which is what you want from a starting pitcher who’s just had a hard time getting the ball in the strike zone right now.”