W: Will Harris (1-0)
L: Jim Henderson (0-2)
HR: Eric Young Jr. (4)
MVP: Corey Hart and Nyjer Morgan (+.193 each)
LVP: Jim Henderson (-.767)
On paper, this should've been about the easiest road trip you could put together. The Brewers followed three games against the NL's worst team in Houston with three more against the NL's second worst team, the Rockies. Unfortunately there's no such thing as an easy win for the 2012 Brewers, who went 1-5 on that trip.
Starting pitching has been one of the Brewers' biggest strengths this season, but it was the anchor tied to their ankles in all three games in this series. Today Mark Rogers became the third consecutive Brewer starter to allow multiple runs in the first inning, giving up three. He settled down after that, though, and pitched six innings in the game while giving up five runs on seven hits.
Today however, for the first time in Denver this week, the Brewer offense was able to overcome the early deficit. They plated five runs in the fifth to take the lead, then scored a single run on a Nyjer Morgan RBI single in the seventh to pull ahead again at 6-5. Morgan started in place of Ryan Braun today and drove in three runs on two hits, but also made a pair of outs on the bases.
Meanwhile, the Brewers handed a one run lead to the bullpen with nine outs to record and got roughly the result we've come to expect. Francisco Rodriguez worked around a four pitch walk to record a scoreless seventh, John Axford gave up a single in an otherwise clean eighth but Jim Henderson allowed three straight hits in the ninth as the Rockies walked off with the win.
The Brewers return home tomorrow night (where they've won six straight) to open a four game set with the Phillies. Cliff Lee takes on Marco Estrada at 7:10.