Astros slam Rockies’ Chase Dollander, hang on for 6-5 win

Chase Dollander got slammed and the Rockies never quite recovered despite a two-homer championship from catcher Hunter Goodman And so the season-long Rox slide continued Tuesday night at Coors Field in front of an released crowd of The Astros won - leaving Colorado with a - record Dollander who had been pitching well of late gave up a grand slam to Houston designated hitter Victor Caratini in the Astros five-run third inning that gave them a - lead Dollander was gone after a mere innings the shortest start of his infant career Colorado s bullpen blanked Houston the rest of the way but the damage had been done The command I don t think was there overall specifically his off-speed command manager Warren Schaeffer commented of Dollander s outing He hung that curveball to Caratini That was the nail in the coffin Dolland however revealed he didn t pitch that poorly save for the hanging curveball that Caratini demolished Except for that one pitch I thought I was throwing pretty well throughout the challenge Dollander disclosed That was a terrible pitch bad location I just have to be better Home has been far from sweet for the Rockies who are - at Coors where they have been outscored - The Rockies are tied with the Tigers for the worst start through the first home games of a season in the modern era Colorado is - in series openers at home this season The challenge got off to a stellar start for Colorado Goodman back in the lineup after missing four games because of tightness in his hamstring crushed a first-pitch mph fastball from Houston starter Colton Gordon to deep center Goodman s th homer of the season measured at feet put the Rockies ahead - in the first Goodman hit his th homer in the ninth crushing closer Josh Hader s first-pitch sinker feet to left center cutting Houston s lead to - Jordan Beck followed with a single but Hader struck out Thairo Estrada and Brenton Doyle to shut the door It was Hader s th save Goodman explained he s still a bit cautious running the bases but declared the hamstring doesn t affect him behind the plate or when he s up to bat He was able to stay sharp during his absence from those four games When we were in Milwaukee I was still in the cage trying to keep my swing going he commented referring to Colorado s three-game series last weekend I was able to stay in a good rhythm I think it helped for sure The Rockies outhit Houston - and Jordan Beck had a career-high five hits It wasn t enough in part because the Rockies were for with runners in scoring position Colorado scored one run in the third on Estrada s sacrifice fly one run in the fourth on Tyler Freeman s RBI double and another run in the fifth on Doyle s infield grounder down the first baseline scoring Beck who led off with a double Dollander s lack of pitch command and his throwing error doomed him in the Astros five-run third Maurico Dubon lined a one-out single to right and Issac Paredes drew a walk Dollander s wild pickoff throw to second allowed Dubon to take third Dubon scored on Jake Meyers groundout Then Dollander walked Jose Altuve and gave up a single to Cam Smith loading the bases for Caratini who hit Dollander s - curveball feet to right Dollander s error was his sixth of the season the largest part by a pitcher in the majors and tied with Armando Reynoso for the greater part errors by a pitcher in a single season in Rockies franchise history Dollander who is supposed to be Colorado s ace of the future continues to be hurt by homers Carantini s grand slam was the th home run Dollander has allowed in his starts Dollander entered the night giving up home runs per nine innings the highest rate in the majors Also his base runners allowed per nine ranked as the third highest Tuesday night he was charged with six runs on seven hits He walked two and struck out one and his ERA climbed to You just flush this one learn from it and move on to the next Dollander disclosed Urged about the homers he s given up he agreed that it s part of a rookie pitcher s growing pains adding It s just learning about counts learning how to read hitters stuff like that But it s frustrating for sure Caratini s grand slam was the third of his career and his first since May also at Coors Field when he played for San Diego