. Josh Lucas pitched the last three innings to earn his first save of the season.Rockies starter Kyle Freeland (2-6) failed to pitch beyond the fourth inning for the second straight game and continued his rough start to the season. He won 17 games in 2018 but after starting this year with a win on opening day he is 1-6 and hasn't recorded a victory in more than five weeks.Things started badly for the left-hander. Baltimore scored twice in the first and led 3-1 after Nunez's solo homer in the third. After Arenado's three-run shot in the bottom of the third gave Colorado a 4-3 lead, Villar answered with a three-run homer of his own on a full count to put the Orioles ahead 7-4 in the fourth.Arenado continued his hot stretch in May. He didn't hit his first home run this season until April 14, in Colorado's 12th game, but he has hit eight this month, including two Friday night. He has 14 to lead the Rockies.TRAINER'S ROOMRockies: Charlie Blackmon was out of the lineup for the second straight game with a calf strain but manager Bud Black said the outfielder is making progress. ''He went through some activity in the training room and weight room and our trainers are encouraged,'' Black said. ''No timetable but we're all encouraged that Charlie's feeling better and his activity level stepped up (Saturday).'' UP NEXTBaltimore RHP David Hess (1-6, 6.75) is looking for his first win since April 1st when he goes against Rockies righty German Marquez (5-2, 3.38) in the final of the three-game series on Sunday.---More baseball coverage: www.apnews.com/MLB and www.twitter.com/-Sports)
Orioles seek to snap losing streak against RockiesFLMAndrew Cashner is one of the elder statesmen on a young Baltimore Orioles team that is clearly in a rebuilding phase. The Orioles are 15-36 after their seventh straight loss, an 8-6 setback to the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Friday night, and Cashner might be a valuable trade chip before July's deadline.That doesn't mean the right-hander wants to leave the Orioles. Cashner, one of the few successful starters on the Baltimore staff, told The Athletic this week if he is dealt he would consider sitting out instead of pitching for a contender."I wish I had a no-trade clause," Cashner told The Athletic. "But it's all part of where you're at (in your career). And I think, once something comes, I'll have to sit down with my family and decide what's best for me." The 32-year-old Cashner will have something else on his mind when he takes the mound against the Rockies on Saturday night. Cashner (4-2, 4.14 ERA) is familiar with Colorado and Coors Field from his four-plus seasons pitching for the division rival San Diego Padres, but it hasn't been a successful matchup for him.Cashner has faced the Rockies 15 times in his career, 10 of them starts, and owns a 3-4 record and a 6.32 ERA in those games. Half of those starts and nine total appearances have been at Coors Field where he is 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA.So it might make sense for Cashner to pass on a trade to a team in the NL West if it would mean getting more starts in Denver. But Cashner's hesitation at being dealt from the worst team in the majors to a contender comes down to being happy where he is, and he said he likes being in Baltimore."At the end of the day, I kind of control what I want to do," he told The Athletic. "Whether I want to go, whether I want to stay, I'd just have to sit down with my family and find out what's best for us." The Rockies hope their success against Cashner continues, but they'll need a better outing from left-hander Kyle Freeland than he had in his last start. Freeland lasted just 1 2/3 innings against Philadelphia on Sunday, the shortest non-injury start of his young career. He threw 65 pitches before being pulled.Freeland (2-5, 6.02) has had a hard time duplicating the success from his 17-win season in 2018. Teams appear to be more familiar with his stuff and are hitting him harder. He allowed 17 home runs in 33 starts last year and already has yielded 12 in just 10 starts this season."It's a game of adjustments, for sure, and you always have to be looking to make an adjustment and you see something or notice something," Freeland told The Denver Post. "That's another thing I'm battling, to not be predictable out there." The good news is he has never faced the Baltimore Orioles so there won't be the same familiarity as teams in his division. Moreover, he started 1-4 last season and recovered to finish fourth in the National League Cy Young voting.--Field Level Media
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