One bad inning doomed the Colorado Rockies to defeat last night. The Pittsburgh Pirates used a four-run fifth inning to get past the Rockies 6-2 at Coors Field. The Rockies led the game 2-1 going into the fateful fifth, thanks to an RBI triple by rookie Josh Rutledge. But Christian Friedrich started the inning with back-to-back walks, and it only got worse for the young southpaw from there. All four earned runs in the fifth were charged to Friedrich, who took the loss. The Rockies loaded the bases in the ninth inning and had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan got Tyler Colvin to strike out swinging to end the game. The Rockies and Pirates play the rubber game of their three-game series in Denver this afternoon. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action from Coors Field, with pregame coverage at 1:30 and the first pitch at 2:10.

Former Husker football player Alfonzo Dennard was granted a continuance on a charge of assaulting a police officer yesterday. His trial date has been moved back to December as a result. Dennard was arrested in the early morning hours of April 21 after an altercation outside a bar in downtown Lincoln, during which he allegedly punched a police officer who was trying to break up the fight. The New England Patriots selected Dennard in the seventh round of this year’s NFL Draft.

Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil told the Denver Post “the truth will come out” regarding his arrest on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a firearm over the weekend. Dumervil and a friend were arrested in Miami Beach on Saturday night after allegedly getting out of their car in stand-still traffic and brandishing weapons during a road-rage related argument. Police seized two weapons, including one from Dumervil’s vehicle, and are currently processing them for fingerprints.

A former Husker baseball standout is the newest member of the Colorado Rockies. Andrew Brown had his contract purchased by the Rockies yesterday and was added to the 25-man roster. Brown was having a big year with AAA Colorado Springs, batting .317 with 20 home runs and 84 RBI. After playing two seasons at Nebraska, Brown was an 18^th round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007, and made his big league debut with the Cardinals last year. He was signed as a minor league free agent by the Rockies this past winter. Brown and fellow AAA player DJ Lemahieu were called up to the big club yesterday to replace two injured players. Chris Nelson was placed on the disabled list with an irregular heartbeat that hospitalized him overnight Monday, and Jonathan Herrera hit the DL with a wrist infection, believed to have been caused by a watch he was wearing.

The Denver Nuggets are set to release Chris Andersen and sign Anthony Randolph to a free-agent contract. Andersen, a fan favorite better known as ‘Birdman’, has spent two separate stints with the Nuggets, including the last four seasons. But his playing time decreased this past year, and he appeared in just 32 games and did not play in the playoffs. The 6’11” Randolph has spent the last five seasons in the NBA with three different teams. He played for Minnesota last season, averaging 7.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 34 games played.