Yankees 3, Rockies 6: Three runs not enough to overcome Ivan Nova’s struggles

The Yankees offense can really struggle at times. While today wasn’t horribly bad, three runs on seven hits isn’t great. However, when your starting pitcher allows ten hits, there’s only so much you can do. Ivan Nova struggled in his five innings, dooming the Yankees to a 6-3 loss.

The Rockies struck first, scoring a run in the third. With one out in the inning, DJ LeMahieu doubled. Nolan Arenado followed that with a single, scoring LeMahieu and putting the Rockies up 1-0.

An inning later, the Yankees struck back. Jacoby Ellsbury and Starlin Castro singled on either side of a Brett Gardner fly out, putting two on with one out. Chase Headley then struck out, leaving it up to Didi Gregorius. His single scored Ellsbury, tying the game. Aaron Hicks then hit a soft grounder in front the of the plate. Rockies’ catcher Tony Wolters botched the throw to first, allowing Hicks to reach safely and scoring Castro. That gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

The Rockies erased that lead in the bottom of the fifth. Charlie Blackmon drew a lead-off walk and stole second. LeMahieu singled to score him, which was immediately followed by a Arenado home run. Two batters later, Trevor Story doubled. After getting the second out of the inning, Nova allowed a single to Mark Reynolds, making it 5-2.

In the top of the sixth, the Yankees got one of those runs back. After the first two hitters went down in order, Headley kept the inning alive with a single. After Gregorius also singled, Hicks blooped a single to left. That scored Headley, making it 5-3.

Nova would not be brought back out to pitch the sixth inning as Rob Refsnyder had been sent up as a pinch-hitter in the top of the sixth. Nova allowed five runs in five innings on ten hits and two walks. He was bad.

Anthony Swarzak was brought in to pitch. He put a couple runners on, including hitting LeMahieu with a pitch. However, he eventually got out of it without allowing a run.

In the top of the seventh, Rockies’ reliever Miguel Castro threw up and in on Austin Romine, seemingly in retribution for LeMahieu getting hit, despite it seeming to have been accidental. Both teams were warned, but nothing major came from it.

The Yankees got a scoreless inning out of Dellin Betances in the eighth, but not one for Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. After getting the first two outs of the inning, Chapman allowed a single to Blackmon and a triple to LeMahieu. That insurance run gave the Rockies a 6-3 lead.

The Yankees went down in order in the ninth, giving the Rockies a sweep of the two-games series in Denver.

Starting tomorrow, the Yankees will face off against another team with a losing record. They’ll head to Minnesota to play the Twins in a four-game set. CC Sabathia will get the start in the series opener.

Box score.