Chad Bettis found a simple solution to ward off the cold.
“I just concentrated on executing pitches,” the Colorado Rockies right-hander said.
Bettis pitched into the eighth inning and combined with three relievers on a five-hitter, leading the Rockies over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on a snowy Tuesday night.
Bettis (3-0) allowed five hits in 7 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
“He used his entire arsenal effectively. He pitched,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “It was a very effective outing. He kept them off balance and there weren’t a lot of hard-hit balls.”
Bettis worked quickly, contributed to a relatively swift game time of 2 hours, 31 minutes.
“I think you intuitively want to work at a good pace in weather like this,” Black said. “Their pitcher was working fast, too.”
Bryan Shaw and Jake McGee followed, and Wade Davis pitched a perfect ninth for his NL-leading eighth save in eight chances.
Colorado improved to 5-1 on a seven-game trip that started in Washington, and the Rockies are 9-4 on the road overall.
The announced attendance was 8,869, but there appeared to be fewer than 2,000 fans at PNC Park. The Pirates offered ticket vouchers for games later in the season to fans who came through the turnstiles.
“Walking in from the bullpen, I was a little concerned because it was really cold,” Bettis said. “But I put on some (handwarmers) once I got to the dugout and I was fine.”
Trevor Williams (3-1) threw six innings in short sleeves despite the 34-degree temperature at first pitch. He gave up two runs and four hits, and he has allowed five runs in four starts this season.
Williams grew up in San Diego and played at Arizona State. He had never pitched in snow before.
“I’m hoping that this is going to be the last one,” Williams said. “It’s tough waking up and seeing a blizzard outside, but it’s tough for them, too.”
Bettis has pitched at least five innings and given up two runs or fewer in each of his four starts this season. He has a 1.47 ERA in his past six starts, including his final two outings of 2017.
“He lives on the margins,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “He changes speeds. He’s got a little quick pitch in there that he ran at us a few times, as well.”
Colorado went ahead in the first when Gerardo Parra drew a one-out walk, took third on Charlie Blackmon’s single and scored when Carlos Gonzalez grounded into a forceout. Blackmon has eight RBIs in his last four games.
Rookie Ryan McMahon, who entered hitting .074, singled in a run in the fourth to make it 2-0.
“It definitely felt good,” McMahon said. “I’ve had bad stretches before in the minor leagues, but this is the big leagues and it’s not as easy as some guys make it look.”
Pittsburgh did not get a runner past first base until Jordy Mercer doubled leading off the eighth. After Mercer moved to third on pinch-hitter Adam Frazier’s groundout, Bettis was replaced by Shaw.
Sean Rodriguez bounced to McMahon, the third baseman, who threw out Mercer at home. McGee induced Gregory Polanco to hit an inning-ending pop out.
Mercer had two hits as the Pirates lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Corey Dickerson popped out for the final out, ending his 11-game hitting streak.
UP NEXT
Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-2, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Chad Kuhl (1-1, 5.74) on Wednesday. Freeland is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA in two career starts. Kuhl has lost both career starts against Colorado with a 5.73 ERA.
AROUND THE MAJORS
New MLB sensation Shohei Ohtani brought a 2-0 record and a 2.08 ERA into his third major league start last night. Mookie Betts greeted him by leading off the game with the first of his three home runs as the Red Sox blasted the Angels, 10-1 at Anaheim.
Ohtani didn’t last very long, yielding three runs and four hits on 66 pitches before exiting with a blister on his pitching hand. The bullpen didn’t do much better as Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt and Rafael Devers went deep to turn the game into a rout.
David Price yielded three hits and four walks over five innings as the Red Sox improved to 14-2, extending the AL’s best start since 1987.
The Angels ended a seven-game winning streak and dipped to 13-4.
— Patrick Corbin pitched no-hit ball into the eighth inning and allowed only a checked-swing single in pitching the Diamondbacks to a 1-0 shutout of the Giants. Brandon Belt had the lone hit off Corbin, who struck out eight and threw 100 pitches in his first career shutout. Arizona and the Mets share the NL’s best record at 12-4.
— Gio Gonzalez surrendered eight hits but just two runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Nationals beat the Mets for the second straight night, 5-2. Trea Turner doubled twice, singled and walked while scoring twice to back Gonzalez, who is 11-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 16 starts lifetime at Citi Field.
— Kenley Jansen blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning before Yasmani Grandal and Kyle Farmer lined two-run doubles to give the Dodgers a 7-3, 12-inning win at San Diego. Jansen wasted a strong performance by Alex Wood, who held the Padres to an unearned run and two hits with seven K’s over 5 1/3 innings.
— Matt Carpenter’s two hits and three RBIs helped the Cardinals win their first meeting with the Cubs this season, 5-3. Adam Wainwright was sharp in 35-degree weather with a 10 mph wind, limiting Chciago to an unearned run and four hits over five innings.
— Rhys Hoskins had struck out three times before providing a two-out, two-run double in the 10th inning of the Phillies’ 5-1 win at Atlanta. Maikel Franco added a two-run double to secure Philadelphia’s seventh win in eight games.
— Eric Thames launched a two-run homer and Junior Guerra combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Brewers shut out the Reds, 2-0. Reds starter Sal Romano had a two-hit shutout in the sixth until Lorenzo Cain walked and Thames slammed his team-leading sixth home run.
— J.T. Realmuto crushed a three-run homer and had four RBIs as the Marlins followed Monday’s 12-1 loss by clobbering the Yankees, 9-1. Miami was already up 4-0 when the Marlins’ catcher went deep in the fifth inning off Masahiro Tanaka. Realmuto came off the disabled and made his season debut after being out since March 11 because of a bruised back.
— The Astros earned a 4-1 win at Seattle behind Lance McCullers Jr., who fired one-hit ball with 11 strikeouts over seven innings. Brian McCann hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the sixth inning.
— The Indians were 6-1 winners over the Twins in the majors’ first regular-season game in Puerto Rico since 2010. Francisco Lindor hit one of Cleveland’s four home runs in his homeland to back Corey Kluber’s one-run ball over 6 2/3 innings. Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez smacked consecutive homers in the sixth and finished with three hits apiece.
— Yangervis Solarte belted a two-run homer and collected four RBIs in Toronto’s 11-3 pounding of the Royals in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader. Randal Grichuk also homered for the Blue Jays, who scored six times while sending 11 batters to the plate in the sixth inning. The Blue Jays completed a sweep of the twinbill by knocking off Kansas City, 5-4 on Luke Maille’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Maille had two hits and three RBIs as the Jays improved to 11-3 since an 0-2 start.
— The Rangers upended the Rays, 7-2 as Matt Moore held his old team to an unearned run and five hits over seven innings. Adrian Beltre, Ronald Guzman and Shin-Soo Choo drove in two runs apiece for Texas, while Kiner-Falefa had four hits.
— Victor Martinez smacked his first home run since August and the Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory against the Orioles. Martinez hit a two-run shot in the second, and Jeimer Candelario strokeda tiebreaking triple in the fifth in support of Francisco Liriano, who gave up two runs and five hits over five innings.
— Jed Lowrie marked his 34th birthday with a go-ahead home run in a five-run first that sparked the Athletics’ 10-2 drubbing of the White Sox. Stephen Piscotty and Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs apiece and Trevor Cahill scattered five hits over seven shutout innings to win his season debut.