Rockies 4, Athletics 2
At Hohokam Stadium
Chad Bettis was not thrilled with his Thursday afternoon outing.
“I think I could have been a lot better, honestly,” he said after pitching 5 ⅔ innings and giving up two runs on four hits. “I feel my command was just OK today, where as the last couple starts I thought it was really good. So that kind of regressed in this outing here, but I know I will be able to get back to producing pretty fast. I’m not too worried about it. My off-speed command was pretty good.”
Manager Bud Black, however, thought the right-hander did just fine.
“I thought he threw the ball, overall, very well,” Black said. “I liked the changeup and the breaking ball. I want to give him a little more credit than he gave himself on the fastball.”
Bettis threw 90 pitches in the game and an additional 15 in the bullpen, building his pitch count up to a regular-season-ready 105.
On the mound: Four relievers held the A’s scoreless, and right-hander Adam Ottavino was especially sharp, whiffing two with a crisp slider.
At the plate: Catcher Chris Iannetta’s solid spring continued with a 2-for-3 day that included his fourth homer. … Charlie Blackmon led off the game with a homer to deep right, his third. … Trevor Story, who has shown such good plate discipline this spring, struck out three times, and was badly fooled on some breaking balls.
Worth noting: Black said in the morning media session that the Rockies are intent on stealing more bases this season. In the second inning, Story reached on an error and stole second against former Rockies catcher Jonathan Lucroy.
Up next: Reds vs. Rockies, 2:10 p.m. (MDT) at Salt River Fields. Reds RHP Homer Bailey vs. Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland.
