Rockies aim to improve standing vs. sinking Cards (Aug 01, 2018)
There was plenty of activity before Major League Baseball's trading deadline Tuesday.
But the Colorado Rockies, who entered the day in contention for the National League West title and a wild card spot, didn't follow the lead of division rivals such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite talk of a deal to beef up the bullpen, Colorado didn't feel like the price was right.
And the Rockies clearly weren't disheartened by the front office's decision to stay the course, rolling to a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals to put pressure on the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. Jon Gray cruised through 7 1/3 innings to earn the win while Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez each cracked two-run homers.
Colorado will look to take a lead in its four-game series with St. Louis on Wednesday night and improve its chances of making the postseason.
"Not every trade works out the way you plan it," Gonzalez told mlb.com. "Some trades will obviously make you a World Series champion. Some other trades will make you a loser."
The one move the Rockies (58-48) made prior to the deadline again paid off Tuesday night. Reliever Seunghwan Oh entered in a 6-1 game with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and got out cheaply enough, allowing one inherited run to score via Matt Carpenter's sacrifice fly. A second run scored on a throwing error before Oh got an inning-ending groundout.
Colorado will continue to rely on its starting pitching and offense, a formula that has thrust it into the playoff picture during a 20-6 run. It will send left-hander Kyle Freeland (9-6, 3.13 ERA) to the mound, fresh off six shutout innings Friday night in a 3-1 victory over Oakland.
After going 11-11 with a 4.10 ERA last year as a rookie, Freeland has improved in 2018. Only once in his last eight starts has he ceded more than two runs. Freeland pitched once against the Cardinals last year, allowing three runs on eight hits over six innings in a 3-0 setback.
St. Louis (54-53) will send Luke Weaver (6-9, 4.70) to the bump, hoping he'll replicate his performance of Friday night. Weaver beat the Chicago Cubs for the first time in his career, scattering eight hits in six innings during a 5-2 victory.
His only appearance against Colorado two years ago was forgettable. He permitted seven hits and six runs in two innings of a loss at Coors Field.
While the Rockies stood pat, the Cardinals dealt center fielder Tommy Pham and international slot money to Tampa Bay for three minor leaguers. The move signals two things: Their intention to give Tyler O'Neill and Harrison Bader more playing time, and a belief the team as constituted wasn't going to get the job done.
O'Neill, who has belted 26 homers with 61 RBIs at Triple-A Memphis in 61 games, was inserted into the lineup Tuesday night and collected two of St. Louis' four hits off Gray. One started a two-run rally in the eighth.
"It was good to see him have a plan, knowing that we're down," Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said. "He got the line started."
