Pitching on short rest because Colorado will play five games in three days, Anderson gave up five hits and struck out two. He didn’t hit 50 pitches until the fifth.
“I didn’t feel like I had the fastball velocity I had the first two outings, but my command was pretty good, still,” Anderson said. “Breaking ball, both of them were pretty good. Coming off three days’ rest, that’s pretty much all I could ask for.”
Charlie Culberson had an RBI double off Reds’ starter Mike Leake in the third. It was the lone run allowed by Leake, who yielded three hits and a walk in three innings as he regains strength after an abdominal injury.
“Not my best,” Leake said. “Could have been down in the zone a little better.”
Charlie Blackmon and Matt McBride added RBI singles for the Rockies.
Rockies lefty Tyler Matzek walked four in a row to start the ninth. Mike McClendon came on and induced a force play at home and a double play to send the Reds to their 10th loss in 11 games.
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It was the first time Reds’ rookie manager Bryan Price got to see Leake, who pitched in a split-squad game Price didn’t attend in his first start.
“He looked good. He moved around well, had a nice bunt. It kind of shows that he’s healthy,” Price said.
Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss changed his mind and might not split up lefties Anderson and Jorge De La Rosa in the rotation.
“There’s a possibility they could go back-to-back,” Weiss said. “It makes it tough on opposing left-hand hitters.”
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With Jhoulys Chacin (shoulder) sidelined, the worst-kept secret of Rockies camp was De La Rosa starting the March 31 opener at Miami.
The Rockies formally announced the move just as the game began. It will be the first opening-day assignment for the 32-year-old De La Rosa.
“He’s worked really hard,” Weiss said. “He deserves it.”
De La Rosa went a career-best 16-6 with a 3.49 earned-run average last season, completing a comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery that limited him to 13 combined starts the previous two years.
“It was a hard time,” De La Rosa said. “This year, I think I’m ready for this.”
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Reds right fielder Chris Heisey robbed Michael Cuddyer of extra bases with a diving catch in right and threw to first for a double play to end the first. Heisey then doubled to start the next inning and scored.
Heisey went 2-for-3 and is hitting .370 (10-for-27) this spring.
“He’s been terrific,” Price said. “I’ve been around him as long as he’s been in the big leagues, starting in 2010, and we’ve always felt like he’s that guy who could be a dynamic player.”
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Right-hander Mat Latos, recovering from elbow and knee surgeries, is scheduled to throw a batting practice later this week for the Reds.
Rockies’ catcher Jordan Pacheco (shoulder) returned and went 0-for-1.
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Cuddyer, the reigning NL batting champion, went 0-for-3 and acknowledged spring training can drag for established position players.
“You’re not playing every day. You’re not building on at-bats,” he said.
The key time? The final two weeks.
“I need about 10 days of consistent at-bats,” Cuddyer said. “That’s where I try to formulate my game plan going into the season.”
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Former Rockies star Larry Walker began a stint as a guest instructor. The 1997 NL MVP chatted with players around the batting cage and was in the Colorado dugout for the game.
The 47-year-old Walker doesn’t plan to go into coaching full-time because of the time he’d be away from his family.
Tulo hit by a pitch and hobbles off
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is expected to miss a couple of days with a bruised left calf after being hit by a pitch in the Rockies’ 6-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
Tulowitzki fell to the ground and clutched his leg after Arizona starter Wade Miley hit him with a fastball with two outs in the fourth. He limped to first before leaving the game.
X-rays were negative, but it was a scary moment for the Rockies, who have seen their three-time All-Star suffer numerous injuries.
“It hit him on the outside of the leg, so it didn’t hit the bone or anything,” Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss said. “He won’t be in there (Thursday), but I don’t think it will be long.”
Miley said he was trying to work Tulowitzki inside, and it cut too far.
When asked if he thought Miley may have intentionally been throwing at Tulowitzki after Arizona slugger Mark Trumbo was hit in the top of the fourth, Weiss said, “I don’t know.”
Miley went five innings, allowing one run on four hits, including Michael McKenry’s RBI double. He struck out five.
Aaron Hill had three hits, including a solo homer off Rockies’ starter Pedro Hernandez.
Miguel Montero had a two-run homer for Arizona.
Paul Janish hit a solo shot for Colorado.
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Miley said an inside fastball to Tulowitzki got away from him.
“I tried to go in on his first at-bat and left it out over the plate, and he crushes it,” Miley said of the shortstop’s lineout to center in the second. “I got away with it. I just made sure I got it in, and it just kind of cut off a little bit.”
Trumbo had been hit by Tommy Kahnle in the top of the fourth. McKenry later was hit by Jimmie Sherfy.
When Colorado’s Raul Hernandez threw behind Montero in the eighth, plate umpire Doug Eddings warned both dugouts.
“You never want your guys to get hit, but stuff happens,” Weiss said.
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Miley likes the extended work he’s been getting with Arizona on a fast track to open the season March 22 in Australia.
“I think you get more out of it going four or five innings rather than two,” Miley said. “I feel great.”
Hernandez, a non-roster invitee who made 12 starts for Minnesota last season, allowed a run on three hits in three innings. He was helped by two stellar defensive plays by Tulowitzki.
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Right-hander Trevor Cahill, who left Tuesday’s game with what the team calls a jammed knee, received treatment Wednesday and later played catch without difficulty. . Outfielder Cody Ross, out since August with a dislocated right hip, went 3-for-6 with two doubles in a minor league game Wednesday. Ross, who did not play in the field, next is scheduled to play in a game Sunday.
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While veteran Drew Stubbs went 2-for-3 and remains the favorite for Colorado’s open center field job, Brandon Barnes is impressing.
Barnes is hitting .346 (9-for-26) and has shown good range running down balls in the outfield, a must at spacious Coors Field.
“One of the reasons I think they brought me in here is I can go get the ball,” Barnes said.
The right-handed hitter said it was “definitely a surprise” when Houston included him in the deal for center fielder Dexter Fowler after he hit .240 in 136 games last year.
“I became a man there,” Barnes said of his eight-year stint in the Astros’ organization. “But at the same time, I was excited to get out of there and come to an organization that prides themselves on winning.”
Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson also are in the crowded outfield mix.
