DENVER _ Roman Quinn ran through the outfield Sunday afternoon, hopelessly chasing a fly ball that would smack against the center-field wall. Two more runs crossed the plate, an eventual 4-1 loss to the Rockies began to unravel, and a difficult weekend continued.
The Phillies began a seven-game road trip by dropping three of four at Coors Field, where they have won just two of their last 11 games. Jerad Eickhoff kept the Phillies close for five innings before the Rockies got to him in the sixth and Quinn was sent darting in the outfield.
Eickhoff pitched six innings and allowed four runs and that seemed like an insurmountable deficit for a Phillies offense that had just two hits in the first eight innings and scored the lone run with two outs in the ninth.
Eickhoff's curveball offered enough promise that the pitcher could be rediscovering the form he had three seasons ago. Eickhoff struck out eight, walked four, and allowed seven hits.
Sunday was the first time he had pitched in the sixth inning _ in the majors or minors _ since last August. It was then that his command seemed to fall off. He began the inning with back-to-back walks and then Ian Desmond stroked an RBI single. Tony Wolters brought in two more with a double to center and Quinn was off running.
The Phillies had just one runner reach third base and their first four hitters _ Andrew McCutchen, Cesar Hernandez, Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins _ combined to go 2 for 17. The Phillies went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and Harper and Hoskins both flew out to the warning track. Harper walked in the eighth inning to keep his on-base streak alive as he has reached base in all 21 games this season.
The offense missed a chance to find a spark in the fourth inning when Hernandez cost them a run, maybe even two, with a baserunning miscue. Hernandez slid into second base after Hoskins appeared to ground into a double play. But Rockies second baseman Garrett Hampson dropped the exchange and umpire Joe West waved Hernandez safe. Hernandez, assuming he was out, walked off the field and was caught in a rundown.
Maikel Franco followed with a double that would have scored Hernandez and Quinn ended the inning with a fly out to center that may have been deep enough for Hoskins to tag up and score. What could have been a rally was just a scoreless inning and a difficult weekend rolled on.
