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Rockies eye another offensive outburst in Milwaukee

Apr 7, 2015 - 2:17 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Colorado Rockies try to keep the bats going on Tuesday when they continue a three-game season-opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Colorado exploded for 10 runs over the first four innings and never looked back in a 10-0 rout of the Brewers on Monday. Corey Dickerson and Nolan Arenado each homered and had four RBI to pace the 16-hit attack, while Kyle Kendrick tossed seven scoreless innings to earn the win.

Kendrick (1-0) gave up seven hits and struck out six in his Rockies debut. He also went 2-for-3 with a double and scored a run.

"He's a smart pitcher," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "He can execute a game plan."

Adam Lind had three of the eight hits for Milwaukee, which lost slugger Ryan Braun to a strain in his right side.

"I was reaching to catch a fly ball that Justin Morneau hit in the fourth inning, and felt it a little bit," Braun said. "With these things, you always know more the next day."

"Hopefully, tomorrow morning I wake up and feel OK. We'll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there."

Kyle Lohse (0-1) was rocked for eight runs on 10 hits over 3 1/3 innings. He went 13-9 with a 3.54 ERA in 31 starts last season.

Hoping for a similar outburst from the offense will be Rockies righty Jordan Lyles, who was 3-0 last April with a 2.70 ERA in six starts. Unfortunately, he only won four games the rest of the season and pitched to a 4.33 ERA over 22 starts.

"I'm not the pitcher I was last year or four years ago when I made my debut," Lyles said. "I have a lot more confidence."

Milwaukee, meanwhile, will hand the ball to veteran Matt Garza, who was 8-8 with a 3.64 ERA after signing a 4-year, $50 million deal with the Brewers.

Garza missed most of August with a rib cage injury, but had 17 quality starts and posted a 2.21 ERA in those contests. Also, his .233 opponents' batting average against for the year was a franchise record among starters.

Garza, though, wasn't a particularly effective this spring, posting a 6.95 ERA despite a 21/6 K/BB ratio over 22 innings.

In five starts versus the Rockies he is 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA.

Milwaukee won six of its seven matchups with the Rockies last season.