MISSOULA, Mont. — Chad Zurat of Clearfield turned in his third consecutive scoreless relief stint for Grand Junction Sunday evening, but the Rockies fell 6-5 in the Pioneer Rookie League game when the Missoula Osprey scored the winning run in the eighth inning to delight 2,639 fans at Ogren Park Allegiance Field.
After the Rockies (24-30) fell behind 5-0, Zurat entered and gave them a chance to win by shutting out the Osprey (32-21) for three innings despite allowing two hits and three walks.
He departed after the Rockies had knotted the score in the middle innings, only to watch them fall to 4-12 in the second half.
In his last three appearances, the right-hander has pitched eight innings without giving up a run to lower his earned run average to 3.92. He surrendered four hit while striking out five and walking five.
Zurat (3-3) has worked 41.1 innings in 15 appearances with 16 strikeouts, 16 walks and three hit batsmen. Opponents have registered 51 hits and 25 runs, 18 earned.