Rockies 8, Brewers 4: Western swing gets off on wrong foot

DENVER - This most definitely was not the tone-setting performance the Milwaukee Brewers were seeking.

Matt Garza struggled in a 4 1/3-inning start, the defense was spotty and three solo home runs provided most of the offensive output as the Brewers opened their crucial nine-game West Coast road trip with a disappointing 8-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night.

The Rockies also hit three homers, and it was two in a three-batter span in the fifth inning by former Brewer Gerardo Parra and Carlos González off Garza that wound up putting the game out of reach.

Milwaukee, which came in on a four-game winning streak, fell into third place in the Central Division standings with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals both winning. The Brewers are now two games back.

"We just keep playing ball and don’t worry about anything but ourselves, and we’ll be all right," said Garza. "We hit the ball well tonight and I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. That’s that.

"If I keep them to three or even four, it’s a whole new ballgame."

Colorado jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Charlie Blackmon lifted Garza's fourth pitch out to left, but Milwaukee got the run back in the second on a Domingo Santana homer to right-center off German Márquez.

Eric Thames led off the third with a standup triple and Neil Walker singled him in one pitch later to put the Brewers in front for the first time, 2-1. It didn't last long, as the Rockies jumped right back on Garza in the bottom half.

The trouble started when Marquez blooped a one-out hit to left-center then stretched it into a hustle double. Blackmon singled and Nolan Arenado followed by lifting a long fly ball to right field that caromed off the wall.

BOX SCORE:Rockies 8, Brewers 4

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Santana got into position to make the play but leaped too early, and both runners scored as a result. Arenado wound up with a triple, and one batter later Parra singled off Orlando Arcia's glove to drive him in and make it a 4-2 game.

There was a strange moment in the fourth when, with two outs and Arcia at the plate, a review was called for because home-plate umpire Jim Wolf lost track of the count. After a delay of 1 minute 5 seconds, it was determined Arcia had drawn a walk and he was sent to first base.

Garza followed up by striking out.

"He's human. It happens," manager Craig Counsell said. "We all noticed it. Arcia didn’t give a reaction, which kind of puts you back on your heels a little bit. But then a couple people spoke up."

The Rockies added onto their lead in the bottom of the fourth, with some questionable Brewers defense helping them. González started with a single to right that Santana failed to charge in on and ex-Brewer Jonathan Lucroy walked, with Trevor Story next sending a hot shot to third.

Shaw gloved it, but in attempting to throw from his knees to second base he wound up firing the ball into right field as the deficit grew to 5-2. Garza eventually got his second double-play grounder of the night with the bases loaded to limit the damage to the one run.

Parra homered with one out in the fifth. Then after another ex-Brewer, Mark Reynolds, reached on a strikeout-wild pitch, González got a two-run homer just over the wall in left field to up Colorado's lead to 8-2 and end Garza's night.

"I didn’t do a great job of keeping it down," Garza said. "That’s all it is. I missed spots and they took advantage of it. That’s all I got, man. I don’t know what else to say. I’ve kind of hit a rough patch, and I’m going to keep going."

The final line on Garza was ugly: 4 1/3 innings, nine hits, eight runs (seven earned) and two walks with a pair of strikeouts. It was also the second blowup outing in the last three for the right-hander, who fell to 6-7 while his ERA rose to 4.81.

"To me, the first four innings, I thought he pitched pretty well," said Counsell. "I really did. There was a scenario where he was giving up one run through four innings there, in my opinion. The fifth inning, they got some balls up in the air pretty good.

"I think he’s still got some good games left in him."

Keon Broxton and Arcia went deep in consecutive at-bats to chase Marquez in the sixth, but that wound up capping the scoring for Milwaukee.

"It’s a loss," Counsell said. "The next game’s the biggest game of the year. So I’m going to say that tomorrow, I’m going to say that the next day. I said that after Day 1. That’s how you treat it – because it’s the next game.

"Making one game bigger than the other, I just don’t think it works."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

» Corey Knebel tied the club record for strikeouts by a reliever with 98 with one in his previous outing on Wednesday. Julio Machado set the record of 98 in 1991 but needed 88 2/3 innings compared to Knebel's 57 1/3.

Knebel, who earned his first career all-star nod last month, has registered a strikeout in 56 of his 57 appearances this season.

"It’s exciting," Knebel said. "A club record is great. I’m pumped."

» To be able to reinstate catcher Stephen Vogt from the disabled list on Friday, the Brewers placed catcher Andrew Susac on the DL with a right trapezius strain. He was on the DL with the same injury from March 31-April 15.

"Took a funky swing in the cage the other day and it kind of locked up on me," he said. "We’d been treating it the last couple days and it’s still kind of locked up.

"Definitely not to the extent it was in spring training, but enough to make it uncomfortable."

» Vogt doubled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth off all-star reliever Pat Neshek. He'll likely start Saturday's game behind the plate.

STAT SHEET

» Both Santana and Broxton joined the 20-homer club, giving the Brewers four with 20 or more. Thames leads the team with 27, while Shaw is one behind at 26.

» Milwaukee relievers entered Friday having posted a 0.70 ERA in their last seven games while limiting opponents to a .174 batting average. 

TAKEAWAY

Keeping in mind the defense behind him wasn't the strongest, Garza's outing was still disappointing. With other options available and Chase Anderson due to come off the disabled list on Sunday, will Garza continue to get chances?

RECORD

This year: 63-60 (34-30 home; 28-30 away)

Last year: 53-70

NEXT GAME

Saturday: Brewers at Rockies, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 1.50) vs. Colorado RHP Chad Bettis (0-0, 0.00) TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: FM-94.5.