Esmil Rogers and the Rockies dominated the Pirates in the Bucs’ home opener on Thursday afternoon, 7-1.
Rogers racked up seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings, the latest in a string of starters to post dominating strikeout numbers against the Pirates’ offense. Pirates starter Paul Maholm, meanwhile, allowed five runs, three earned, in 5.2 innings.
The game got off to a rough start, as Dexter Fowler singled to lead off the game and scored on Neil Walker’s throwing error. Troy Tulowitzki hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. Tulowitzki then hit a solo homer in the fourth.
In the sixth, the Rockies padded their lead with RBIs by Carlos Gonzalez and Tulowitzki. They added two more in the seventh on Ryan Spillborghs’ RBI single and Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly.
The only Pirates run came courtesy of Andrew McCutchen’s RBI groundout in the first. The Pirates only managed four hits in the game, all singles.