The Colorado Rockies will escape Pittsburgh with just one victory against the Pirates. After winning the first game of the doubleheader, the Rockies dropped the second game, 5-1. The culprit: five runs allowed by Jhoulys Chacin and two misplayed balls by Carlos Gonzalez in left field, all in the fifth inning.
After Alex Presley doubled for the Pirates to start things during the bottom half of the fifth, Carlos Gonzalez had trouble with the ball in the sun on back-to-back plays, allowing a Nate McLouth RBI double and an Andrew McCutchen RBI single. Then Chacin allowed a two-run home run to Garrett Jones and a solo home run to Pedro Alvarez, who hit one in the first game of the day.
The Rockies scored their only run of the day on a Ramon Hernandez home run in the seventh inning. Charlie Morton allowed that one run over his seven innings of work.
Zach Putnam, called up because teams are allowed to have a 26-man roster for a split doubleheader, pitched one inning of relief after Chacin and allowed just one hit, as did Rex Brother and Edgmer Escalona.
The Rockies (9-9, 4-5 away) are off on Thursday and return home for a weekend series with the New York Mets at Coors Field.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more on these teams, visit Rockies blog Purple Row and Pirates blog Bucs Dugout. Head over to Baseball Nation and MLB Daily Dish for more news and notes.