Two teams that have struggled to muster offense this season came to a head on Friday as the Colorado Rockies collected just a single hit in a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rookie pitcher Jared Jones continued his strong start to his season carving through the Rockies lineup easily through seven innings. He threw 96 pitches, 67 for strikes, and the lone hit from the 22 batters he faced came from an Elias Diaz double. It was the sixth consecutive start for Jones that he went five innings or more and allowed three runs or less and just the second pitcher since 1900 to do so for the Pirates, joining Gerrit Cole. He punched out 10 Rockies hitters and did not issue a single walk.

Jared Jones, 9th and 10th Ks.

7 innings, 10Ks, 1 hit, 0 runs. pic.twitter.com/x6bJdp7cV3

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 4, 2024

Not to be outdone, Austin Gomber kept pace with Jones in his outing. Gomber tossed six innings, giving up four hits and striking out three while walking two. He threw 88 pitches while inducing six ground balls against a single flyout. It was another solid outing for Gomber who has now lowered his ERA to 3.79 ERA for the season, continuing a string of good to serviceable starts by the Rockies pitching staff.

The game ultimately came down to the bullpens. The Pirates combo of Colin Holderman and David Bednar made quick work of the Rockies as Holderman threw just nine pitches to navigate the eighth and Bednar collected one strikeout in the ninth and ended up earning the victory.

Victor Vodnik continued his strong season, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out three batters against one walk on 37 pitches. It would be Nick Mears who had the unfortunate luck to suffer the loss after running into trouble in the bottom of the ninth. Connor Joe, who we went 2-for-3 on the day, left off the inning with a single to left field. Mears would then strike out Edward Olivares before throwing a wild pitch that allowed Joe to move into scoring position. A groundout from Yasmani Grandal in his Pirates debut advanced the runner to third with two outs.

Jared Triolo then drew a walk to put men on the corners and the Rockies decided to intentionally walk Oneil Cruz to load the bases and potentially face a right-handed batter. The Pirates countered with Jack Suwinski who promptly laced a middle-middle fastball to left field to score Joe for the walk-off victory.

It was the third walk-off loss the Rockies have suffered on their road trip as they have still failed to win consecutive games this season. Their offense has continued to struggle and has become a glaring problem for a team trying to find its footing. The Pirates totaled six hits while striking out seven times with five walks.