 struck out six and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced after a rough start. He was facing a blow-up first inning when, with runners on first and second and no outs, he went 3-0 on Nolan Arenado.''I felt lost on an island out there in the first inning. I couldn't throw a strike, I was trying to throw it over the plate and let them hit it,'' Miley said. ''Was able to get through it and found some traction in the third and fourth.'' Arenado helped when he popped out swinging 3-0 and David Dahl flew out on the next pitch. Miley escaped with only Ian Desmond's RBI single with two outs.''I can see him doing it because he can do damage on that pitch,'' Miley said of Arenado. ''I was a little shocked the next (batter) swung (at the first pitch). Thank you.'' Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his 19th save.Colorado has dropped three in a row and went 2-4 on its homestand against Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers.''I felt like we're competitive, we're right there,'' outfielder Charlie Blackmon said. ''We're very close to what we need to be but we have some room for improvement.'' Bregman hit his team-leading 23rd homer, a solo shot in the first. Gurriel led off the second with his 11th of the season and third of the series.The Astros added two more in the fourth on Reddick's bases-loaded double, but Gurriel was thrown out at home to end the inning.Blackmon had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh. Rookie right-hander Peter Lambert (2-1) went five innings in his first major league loss.''Bregman's I thought was a pretty good pitch, he kind of turned on it pretty well,'' Lambert said. ''Gurriel, it was a bad pitch. It was up in the zone and he hammers those.'' HPY 4THNeither the Rockies nor the Astros play on Thursday, marking a rare day off on Independence Day.''It's going to be the first 4th of July where I don't have a reason to go to the ballpark,'' Hinch said. ''It will be weird. Having a number of teams having the off day, I don't think many of us know what to do. We're just so used to coming here and letting the game be our celebration.'' The two-game series at Coors Field included postgame fireworks each night, which helped remind Colorado manager Bud Black about the holiday.''The actual July 4th is the day we always play,'' he said. ''But with fireworks on July 2nd and fireworks (Wednesday) night it feels like July 3rd is July 4th.'' DOUBLE HONORBlackmon was named the NL Player of the Month for June after hitting .412 with 10 homers in 22 games and his former teammate, New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, won the award in the AL after hitting .395 with six homers, 29 RBIs and 26 runs scored.Black, who managed LeMahieu in 2017 and `18, spoke highly of him.''Wherever DJ landed he was going to be the same steady, dependable player he was with us,'' Black said. ''It's good to see guys you feel close to do good things. I'm always pulling for the good guys.'' UP NEXTAstros: RHP Justin Verlander (10-3, 2.86) will open a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.Rockies: RHP Antonio Senzatela (7-5, 4.83) will make his third start of the season against Arizona in Phoenix on Friday.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Rockies want win in finale of powerhouse homestandFLMThe Colorado Rockies are wrapping up one of their toughest homestands of the season: four games against the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and two against the American League West-leading Houston Astros.The Rockies have held their own so far, standing at 2-3 with one game to go following a 9-8 loss to Houston on Tuesday.In the homestand finale on Wednesday, the Astros will send veteran left-hander Wade Miley to the hill to oppose Colorado rookie right-hander Peter Lambert.Miley (6-4, 3.39 ERA) is coming off of a solid outing against the Seattle Mariners on Friday. He went six innings and gave up just one run on three hits but settled for a no-decision. He has won only one start since May 24, going 1-1 with a 3.76 ERA in June.Miley is 7-2 with a 3.89 ERA in 14 career appearances against the Rockies, 13 of which were starts.That ERA could be tested against Colorado on Wednesday. Coors Field has been giving up a lot of runs over the past month and has hurt the stats of All-Star pitchers.Houston manager A. J. Hinch is familiar with dealing with playing in Denver from his days as a skipper with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He pointed out the home runs aren't as much of an issue as the vast outfield."Everyone automatically thinks it's about the fly balls," Hinch told reporters before Tuesday's game. "Fly balls fly out of the park here. It's the ground balls and the singles that turn into doubles and make this offensive park even more intimidating."I was in the NL West for a little bit of my post-playing career. And when you see ground balls hit and the outfield's playing so deep, it turns a ground ball into a double. That can create a lot of momentum and a lot of offense in this ballpark." For that reason, Hinch went with his best defensive outfielders Tuesday and didn't start Yordan Alvarez, who is hitting .317. And Hinch doesn't plan on starting him Wednesday."Their dugout will be very aware when he's moving around the dugout and getting a helmet and getting ready to hit," Hinch said. "He's going to be a force to come off the bench for a critical at-bat. If we need a big at-bat, he's going to be in there." Lambert, who made his major league debut a month ago, allowed a total of two runs in winning each of his first two starts. In the three outings since, however, he has given up 16 runs. In all, he is 2-0 with a 6.57 ERA.Lambert isn't the only culprit on the staff. Colorado starters and relievers are getting hit hard, including Tuesday night."We have to get some things in order on the pitching side," manager Bud Black said Sunday. "On any given night, we have 13 pitchers, and we need a number of guys -- double-digit guys -- pitching well. We can't have a guy pitch good, a guy pitch bad. We need consistent pitching from our rotation and our bullpen." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Houston Astros
Colorado Rockies
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (7/3/2019)
LiveSportsTradingDude
