Reds’ four homers off Rockies bullpen pave road to 7-2 loss

Rockies Report, Game 99:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Four home runs — one of them of the inside-the-park variety — against Colorado’s bullpen allowed the Cincinnati Reds to pull away from the Rockies for a 7-2 win in the teams’ first game after this week’s All-Star break.

The game stood in a 1-1 deadlock heading into the sixth inning, as Troy Johnston’s sacrifice fly knotted the score, matching Sal Stewart’s first-inning RBI double.

But after Colorado starter Gabriel Hughes issued a one-out walk to JJ Bleday, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer handed the evening to his bullpen, ending Hughes’ night after 5 1/3 innings and 82 pitches. Two pitches later, Jimmy Herget delivered a sinker that settled in the heart of the strike zone, and Spencer Steer lined a dart into the left-field stands to push Cincinnati’s edge to 3-1. Four pitches later, Eugenio Suárez reached for a sweeper outside and low into the left-field stands to increase the Reds’ lead to 4-1. A Sal Stewart sacrifice fly off Victor Vodnik in the seventh added to the Reds’ lead.

Steer added an inside-the-park homer on Jeff Criswell’s first pitch in the eighth inning, driving the ball to the right-center-field wall, where it caromed off the screen in front of the visiting dugout and back towards center field past Jake McCarthy. Tyler Freeman retrieved the ball in front of the 415-foot indicator on the center-field wall and fired it back towards the infield, but the relay throw was too late, as Steer successfully slid head-first into home plate to expand Cincinnati’s advantage to 6-2.

Colorado fell to 39-60, descending to more than 20 games below .500 for the first time this season.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

The loss tacked to Hughes’ name was misleading; this was another solid start for the rookie, who now has a 3.14 ERA through his first three appearances. Hughes didn’t reach the quality-start threshold that he did July 8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but

“I don’t think he had his best stuff tonight, but he battled,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game. “… He got into the sixth inning. Not a good walk to Bleday, but other that, I thought Gabe — for his second big-league start — pitched really well.”

Hughes’ fastball was particularly effective.

“We’re seeing that he has a really good fastball movement-wise, and he attacks the strike zone with that,” Schaeffer said. “Overall, I think Gabe’s first two starts have gone really well for him.”

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: De La Cruz tacked on his ninth-inning homer to provide the game’s final margin.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 2 — Homers allowed by Herget in his two-thirds of an inning Friday, matching the total he allowed in his first 24 appearances this season.

WHAT’S NEXT: An afternoon clash at Coors Field in Saturday’s second game of the series. Tomoyuki Sugano is expected to start for Colorado. Rhett Lowder gets the ball for Cincinnati in the 1:10 p.m. MDT start.