The first half of the Colorado Rockies' 2011 season came to an end on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 loss to the Washington Nationals. The pitching on both sides was strong, but it was the Rockies' continued inability to come up with timely hitting that hurt the, once again.
Jhoulys Chacin (8-7, 3.16 ERA) was perfect for 3 2/3 innings before Ryan Zimmerman singled to left field, but nothing came of that. Chacin's real trouble came in the sixth inning when Ian Desmond reached on an infield single to start the inning. Desmond moved over to second on a sacrifice by starter Jordan Zimmermann. Roger Bernadina followed that up with an RBI single to left field. Chacin finished seven full innings and allowed that one run on four hits and a walk. He struck out four.
Rick Ankiel homered off Matt Reynolds in the eighth inning for an insurance run, but with the way Zimmermann and the bullpen were all day it didn't matter much. Zimmermann (6-7, 2.66 ERA0 threw 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, scattered four hits and struck out six. The Rockies had threats in the eighth and ninth innings when Ian Stewart (single, sacrificed over to second) and Seth Smith (double) each wound up in scoring position. However, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen got out of their jams, respectively.
The Rockies and most of Major League Baseball take a break from the diamond for the next few days while the 2011 MLB All-Star Game takes place on Tuesday evening.
For more on the Rockies, check out Purple Row. Visit Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for news and notes on the Nationals.