An essential piece of the Rockies’ future shone bright Wednesday night. That would be rookie right-hander Chase Dollander.
The present? Pretty dim.
The Astros blanked the Rockies 4-0 at Dalkin Park, the third time in the last five games the Rockies’ offense was whitewashed.
Dominated for seven innings by sinkerball lefty Framber Valdez, Colorado (38-95) managed just four hits and was shut out for the 14th time this season. Valdez allowed three hits — all singles — walked two, and struck out five.
Dollander had some issues, but they didn’t overshadow his impressive performance. The rookie right-hander allowed one run on three hits over six innings. He struck out seven (impressive) but walked four (problematic) in the 19th start of his rookie season.
The Astros took advantage of Dollander’s scattered first inning. Dollander issued a one-out walk to Yordan Alverez, who cruised into second on a wild pitch. Dollander struck out the dangerous Carlos Correa but yielded a two-out RBI single to Jesus Sanchez.
Dollander entered the game searching for efficiency. His 18.54 pitches per inning was the highest among all major league starters (minimum 18 games started). When the right-hander threw 26 pitches in the first inning, it looked like it would be another one of those games.
But Dollander settled in and finished with 98 pitches (61 strikes). He induced double-play grounders in the fourth and fifth innings and averaged just 14.4 pitches over his final five innings.
Though Dollander has been battered at Coors Field — 10 starts, 9.88 ERA — he’s been excellent on the road. In nine road starts, he has a 3.64 ERA.
With Dollander out of the game, Houston immediately took advantage. Cam Smith led off the seventh with a 346-foot homer to left off right-hander Nick Anderson to extend Houston’s lead to 2-0.
The Astros iced the game in the eighth on Alvarez’s 421-foot two-run homer off right-hander Angel Chivilli, whose early-season promise has faded away. Chivilli now owns a 6.89 ERA.
The Rockies, who beat the Astros on Tuesday night, will attempt to win the three-game series on Thursday afternoon.
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