DENVER -- When the bats don¡¯t provide the answer to a struggling offense, Rockies manager Bud Black figured, maybe a new lineup card will work.
¡°We¡¯re going to try to do what we can,¡± Black said Wednesday afternoon. ¡°We¡¯ve played 10 games. We¡¯re trying to do as much as possible to try to get this offense going. This is a little bit of a change.¡±
But there are no easy fixes for what on Wednesday night was a 17-2 defeat at the hands of the Brewers, which sent the Rockies to 2-9 this year -- tied with 2005 for the worst 11-game start in club history. Colorado has scored just 33 runs so far this season, tied with the '08 club for the fewest through 11 games.
Black will try again.
¡°We¡¯re looking for some different solutions to get the offense going,¡± Black said postgame. ¡°Only two runs tonight, seven hits. We had two opportunities early -- in the first two innings -- we had two guys on both innings, [but] couldn¡¯t drive them in.¡±
The new lineup was not nearly enough to keep up with the Brewers, who put up a five-run third against Antonio Senzatela, who had not given up an earned run his previous two starts. Milwaukee also put together five runs in the fifth and seven in the ninth. Ezequiel Tovar, who is usually a superb defensive shortstop, committed an error and had other misplays as the Rockies finished with four errors.
No amount of hitting could make up for a bad night from the starter, poor defense and a nightmarish night from reliever Seth Halvorsen -- who walked three, committed an error and gave up a 465-foot homer to Christian Yelich while looking like a closer who isn¡¯t getting save opportunities.
Nonetheless, the offense has been the more consistent culprit. The Rockies scored fewer than five runs for the 10th time in 11 games, so in a sense they kept running in place. But were there baby steps?
Sean Bouchard, who entered with a .364 on-base percentage in mostly reserve duty, batted second and drew two walks.
Ryan McMahon, dropped from third to cleanup in an attempt to take advantage of his decent form this homestand, blasted his second home run of the season. Despite the Rockies entering Thursday¡¯s finale with the Brewers just 1-4 on their season-opening homestand, McMahon has batted .353 (6-for-17) with his two homers and four RBIs at Coors Field.
Struggling cleanup hitter Kris Bryant dropped to seventh and saw his long, difficult search for his swing to return to form produce a double and a single. The Rockies are still waiting for the thunder.
And the lineup shakeup didn¡¯t wake up the rest of the Rockies.
They¡¯re waiting for any kind of production from first baseman Michael Toglia, who went 0-for-4 with a strikeout to drop his season average to .140 with no home runs or RBIs. Hunter Goodman, who provided much of the Rockies¡¯ scant offense on their season-opening road trip, went 1-for-3 on Wednesday, but is 2-for-17 on the homestand.
It was the second game of No. 8 prospect Zac Veen¡¯s opportunity in the big leagues, and this time he went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
The season started with stellar starting pitching and, although Wednesday was a glaring exception, solid defense. But until the offense produces, any slip from the aforementioned two areas can lead to eyesore performances.