Despite another early HR, Rockies' winning recipe hits snag

PHILADELPHIA -- Early on Friday night, it looked like the Rockies had finally found a winning formula: hit a big home run in the first inning and let the pitching staff handle things from there.

That’s how Colorado snapped its eight-game losing streak only 24 hours earlier, and after Ryan McMahon drilled a three-run home run against Aaron Nola in the first inning, the stage was set for a repeat performance.

“I was ready for it,” said McMahon, whose fourth home run of the season scored Kris Bryant and Charlie Blackmon, who had each singled against Nola earlier. “He put it in a good spot that I can handle it.”

There was one major difference between Thursday and Friday, however. After C.J. Cron’s homer in the first inning of the series opener, the Rockies scored twice more in the sixth and then again in the ninth, cruising to an easy victory.

Friday, Colorado didn’t score again after the first. In fact, the Rockies managed just one hit after the opening frame and none over the final seven innings, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

“It was nice to get those three early runs,” Cron said. “Once we got those, [Nola] locked it down a little bit and didn't give us much to hit.”

Harold Castro’s single to start the second gave the Rockies four hits in their first seven at-bats. After that, the team was a collective 0-for-21 with four walks, as Colorado advanced just one runner into scoring position over the final eight innings.

“I don't think anything changed with Nola; he's just good,” manager Bud Black said. “We just couldn't handle his stuff.”

Rookie Noah Davis did his part early, but a bizarre two-run fourth inning that included an error, a controversial hit-by-pitch that sparked Black’s ejection, and a run-scoring balk helped the Phillies climb back into the game.

“That’s where they got their momentum and got back in this game,” McMahon said. “We kind of had it all before that, and that's what let them back in.”

Kyle Schwarber tied things up with a home run against Dinelson Lamet in the seventh and Edmundo Sosa gave Philadelphia its first lead with an RBI single in the eighth. The Rockies couldn’t get the bats going even after Nola departed, coming up empty against Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvarado.

So much for that winning formula.

“You always want to add on, especially against them,” McMahon said. “They've got a pretty deep lineup, a lot of guys who can go off at any second. We tried, but he settled in on us and [Nola] started making some really, really good pitches.”

A number of Rockies hitters lauded Nola for his ability to keep them off balance, though even when one of them squared something up, it went unrewarded.

Case in point: in addition to McMahon’s home run, a 106 mph drive to center field that traveled 408 feet, the Rockies hit five other balls with an exit velocity of at least 96 mph. None of them resulted in a hit.

The hardest-hit ball of the night by either team came in the ninth inning when Cron mashed a 111.6 mph bullet toward third baseman Edmundo Sosa. The infielder made a leaping stab for the second out, robbing Cron of what would likely have been an extra-base hit.

“That’s baseball,” Black said. “That ball could have been in the corner and we have a guy at second with one out. That’s the game. We just didn't hit much after the first inning.”