Rockies 4, Phillies 1: Chad Kuhl blanks Phillies as offense continues to underperform

Monday night saw the Philadelphia Phillies head west for the first time in 2022 to take on the Colorado Rockies.

Making his third start of the year, Aaron Nola looked to rebound from his underwhelming start on the 13^th of April.

Joe Girardi sent out what may be the best collection of Phillies hitters on Monday night.

Didi Gregorius received the day off, as rookie Bryson Stott drew the start at short. Alec Bohm found his way back to the field for the first time since his infamous three error game a week ago today, as he got the nod at the hot corner.

Colorado sent right hander Chad Kuhl to the mound for his second start of the season.

The first two innings of play saw little action. Bryce Harper laced a single in the top of the first but was left stranded. Connor Joe suffered the same fate in the bottom half of the inning.

Both teams would go down in order during the second frame, as the game zipped on.

The top of the third inning was much of the same for the fightins. Stott, Vierling, and Realmuto went down in order on a pair of groundouts and a fly out.

Finally, the Rockies got some action on the base paths during their turn at the dish.

A double and a walk put Jose Iglesias and Connor Joe on base with one out. Luckily, Aaron Nola showed some resilience and worked his way out of trouble to strand both runners.

Chad Kuhl continued to look sharp as he dominated his way through the meat of the Philadelphia order. Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos were both sat down on strikes by the former Pittsburgh Pirate.

A Rhys Hoskins two out walk was quickly erased after he was picked off of first base during Kyle Schwarber’s at bat.

The bottom half of the fourth inning saw Aaron Nola allow a leadoff double to C.J. Cron. The former LSU Tiger was able to work his way out of a run scoring, stranding Cron 90 feet from home.

It took Chad Kuhl just 57 pitches to carve his way through five one hit innings as things progressed to the sixth.

The lone Phillie highlight of much of the ball game came curtesy of J.T. Realmuto as he gunned out Sam Hilliard trying to steal second.

For the first time in the ballgame, a run crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth. Charlie Blackmon led off the inning by torching a 1-1 pitch to right center field for his first homer of the 2022 season.

After a one out single from C.J. Cron, Joe Girardi decided to move on from Nols and make a call to the pen. With Ryan McMahon looming on deck, Jose Alvarado would be called upon.

It took no time for the southpaw to introduce himself to the Denver crowd, as he quickly spiked a pitch past J.T. Cron would advance to second on what would be ruled a wild pitch.

The 26-year-old forced Ryan McMahon to ground out on the next play. A second wild pitch of the inning brought Cron in from third to bring the Rockies to a 2-0 lead. Both of the two runs were charged to Aaron Nola.

A new face greeted the Phillies to begin the proceedings in the top of the seventh, as the book would official close on Chad Kuhl. The right hander completing six shutout innings on just 68 pitches.

Tyler Kinley was the first man out of the Rockies’ arm barn on Monday night. Entering the contest, Kinley was yet to allow an earned run through 4.1 innings pitched on the season. That streak would quickly continue in impressive fashion as he retired Castellanos, Hoskins, and Schwarber without much resistance.

Trailing by two in the bottom of the seventh, the Phills turned to righty Jacob Norwood. The 28-year-old rookie fired two scoreless innings in Miami last week.

Unfortunately, his scoreless streak would end on Monday night. A two-out two-run double by Randal Grichuk extended the Rockie’s lead by a pair. A good relay from right eliminated Grichuk as he tried to extend the double into a triple.

For the first time in the ball game, Philly had multiple base runners aboard at the same time. Alec Bohm and Jean Segura poked consecutive singles to kick things off.

Carlos Estevez then forced Bryson Stott into a fly out to right, allowing Alec Bohm to move up 90 feet.

Didi Gregorius was next up to battle, as he pinch hit for Matt Vierling. The move would pay off for Joe Girardi as Didi poked a double to left to drive home Bohm.

That was plenty of action for Bud Black as he made the move to Jhoulys Chacin. The 34-year-old former starter would be tasked with the top of the order with runners in scoring position.

Unfortunately, the momentum would come to an immediate haunt as Chacin made a stellar play on a J.T. lineout, turning the double play.

At least Corey Knebel looked sharp in his lone inning of work as he danced around an odd two-out double.

Down to their final three outs, the Phillies entered the ninth down 4-1 as Alex Colome toed the rubber.

The first two Phillies went down without much trouble. However, things turned the corner for a moment as Rhys Hoskins drew his second walk of the night.

Kyle Schwarber ended the night with a groundout, as the ball game would reach its conclusion.

Another lackluster offensive performance has come and gone for the Phillies, as they fall to 4-7 on the young season. With the win, Colorado improves to a surprising 7-3.

Aaron Nola wasn’t the sharpest as he finished with 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks, as he falls to 1-2 on the season. Chad Kuhl’s 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 4 Ks was certainly more than good enough to grasp his first win of the season.

These two teams face off again on Tuesday night at 8:40pm as Philadelphia hopes to locate their offense.