PITTSBURGH -- Brendan Rodgers softly recited his batting box-witness scouting report of Pirates right-hander Jared Jones -- a stellar young pitcher whom the struggling Rockies never really figured out in their 1-0 loss at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon.

Jones, MLB Pipeline's No. 56 overall prospect, dominated his seventh Major League start. At 22 years and 237 days old, he struck out 10 and held the Rockies scoreless on one hit and no walks. Jones became one of five MLB pitchers since 1900 to go seven or more innings with 10 or more on one or fewer hits and no walks (Shelby Miller vs. Colorado on May 10, 2013, Johnny Cueto vs. Arizona on April 3, 2008, Kerry Wood vs. Houston on May 6, 1998 and Catfish Hunter vs. Minnesota on May 8, 1968).

“He was sitting 99 mph pretty much the whole game -- you don’t see that very often out of a starter, especially at his size,” Rodgers said of Jones, whose 6-foot-1 listing sparks Steel City pressbox debate. “You think it’s going to come out of a lower slot, but he’s got a pretty high slot. It’s got on average, probably, 18 inches of vertical break, so it’s moving quite a bit.

“He made some good pitches. I wouldn’t say he was dotting by any means. But he made some good two-strike pitches, and he missed some pitches and got some calls.”

Rodgers had his chance in a fifth inning that began with the Rockies’ only hit, Elias Díaz’s double. Jones put down the Rockies on six pitches -- a three-pitch strikeout of Elehuris Montero, a soft pop-up by Charlie Blackmon and Rodgers’ first-pitch grounder to short on a slider.

“I thought I hit that one all right, but just kind of rolled over,” Rodgers said.

The Rockies have had bad games aplenty, given an 8-25 record that’s the worst in their history. Plenty of these games show their shortcomings, The inability to come up with big hits and high strikeouts are among their problems.

But on Saturday, the Rockies, while disappointed (especially reliever Nick Mears, who gave up Jack Suwinski’s bases-loaded, two-out, walk-off single in the ninth), could put the loss in the category of coming up short in a well-pitched contest.

Not fun, but the Rockies could wrap themselves in good pitching of their own -- something that has happened more often than not on this road trip that’s 1-6 and ends with Sunday afternoon’s finale with the Pirates.

Lefty Austin Gomber pitched six scoreless innings of his own, with three strikeouts against four hits and two walks. In his last four starts, Gomber has a solid 3.09 ERA with 11 strikeouts against five walks.

However, he was opposed by the Phillies’ Ranger Suárez (who recorded a shutout), the Padres’ Dylan Cease (who fanned eight in seven innings with one run allowed), the Astros’ Framber Valdez (who stood out in his return from the injured list) and Jones.

But Gomber has bought into controlling what he can, since there isn’t a choice. He credited Díaz with some of his “best work” in mixing four pitches and staying a step ahead. After a one-out Ke’Bryan Hayes double in the sixth, his final inning, he also benefited from a sliding catch from recent callup Jordan Beck in left to keep the game scoreless.

“Díaz did a wonderful job mixing it up,” Gomber said. “There were some different pitches in some different counts than I normally would throw, but I just trusted him. It was unbelievable the soft contact we were able to get. Hat tip to him and obviously a couple good plays behind me.”

The Rockies beat the Pirates, 3-2, on Friday night, but couldn’t pull off a second straight victory -- something that hasn’t happened this difficult season. Still Sunday, the Rockies have an opportunity to break 2024 precedent and win a series.

Absorbing sweeps in Mexico City against the Astros and at Miami led manager Bud Black to call a hang-in-there team meeting. Black was more in the mood to appreciate the pitching contest on Saturday, which included two scoreless innings from Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik.

“[Gomber] matched their guy,” Black said. “The changeup came into play. I thought all four pitches were solid. He got outs with his fastball. He got outs with his hook, got outs with the slider, got outs with the change. When he gets on his rolls, it’s usually all four pitches being effective.”

After discussing what makes Jones special, Rodgers offered as glowing a report on the Rockies’ own starter, Gomber.

“He’s getting ahead early, putting guys away with the curveball and slider,” Rodgers said. “He’s been doing really well. Now we’ve got to pick him up.

“But we’ve got to focus on tomorrow and win a series.”