Brewers tackle Rockies as rotation stays in flux

Left-hander Rob Zastryzny became the 15th different starting pitcher this season for Milwaukee when he pitched a 1-2-3 first inning as an opener in the Brewers’ series-opening, 8-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Monday.

No. 14 was another left-hander who will make his second start of the campaign on Tuesday, when former American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel takes the mound for the Brewers.

The 36-year-old Keuchel (0-0, 11.25 ERA), a two-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner who won the 2015 AL Cy Young with a 20-8 record for the Houston Astros in 2015, was acquired June 25 from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. He was promptly put in the Brewers’ injury-ravaged rotation the next day against the Texas Rangers.

Keuchel, who was 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts with Triple-A Tacoma at the time of the trade, went four innings in his Milwaukee debut. He gave up five runs, including back-to-back homers, on eight hits in a game the Brewers eventually won in 10 innings, 6-5. He walked one and struck out four, leaving after throwing 71 pitches, 43 for strikes.

“I exhausted myself pretty early,” Keuchel said. “I was pretty excited. I’m hoping to get a lot more stamina back and a little bit more poise.”

Keuchel is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Rockies. He is 0-1 with an 11.74 ERA in two appearances (one start) in Denver.

Colorado, which has won back-to-back games for the first time since the end of May, will start right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-7, 5.82 ERA).

A fourth-round pick out of Ohio State in 2018, Feltner is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in two career starts against Milwaukee. He has a chance to set a franchise record against the Brewers.

Feltner has gone at least four innings and walked two or fewer batters in 16 consecutive starts, tying the club mark set by Jeff Francis from June 28, 2008, to June 25, 2010. Unfortunately, that stat hasn’t translated into victories for the Rockies. Feltner has gone 13 starts since earning his lone win of the season, 12-4, on April 12 at Toronto.

Feltner comes in off a 7-1 loss at Houston on Wednesday, during which he allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits over six-plus innings. He walked one and struck out two.

“I try not to look at the line too much because some things can happen in a baseball game,” Feltner said after the outing against the Astros. “As far as stuff and execution of my pitches, I felt like today was one of my best.”

Colorado will be trying to win three consecutive games for the first time since May 9-15, when the Rockies posted seven victories in a row. The Rockies have won back-to-back extra-inning contests, including an 8-7 victory in 10 innings on Monday. Jake Cave hit a bases-loaded single for his first career walk-off hit.

“When you’re a little kid you think about that — they walk a couple guys to get to you, and you end the game,” Cave said, according to the Denver Post. “So, yeah, I was thinking about it, but I was trying to get my heart rate down and see a pitch up. … Once I saw it was going to hit grass, it was time to party.”

–Field Level Media