The Rockies battled, but couldn’t score the run they needed or prevent San Diego’s late insurance runs as they fell 8-7 in a heartbreaker on Monday night at Coors Field.
Colorado trailed 6-1 after four innings, but made a game of it before San Diego’s shutdown, slider-throwing closer Mason Miller posted two strikeouts to earn his 37th save of the season — the Rockies’ only two strikeouts of the game.
“We have lost a lot of tight games this year,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “…The next step
is to start winning the one-run games and that happens throughout the game. There’s moments in the first inning, there’s moments in the ninth inning, and every inning in between where we can improve. But we are right there. It’s just a matter of time before we start winning those one-run games.”
The loss was the eighth in a row for the Rockies, while the Padres won their eighth straight. The Rockies are now 1-9 against San Diego this season.
Digging a hole
In the end, it turns out a team that consistently beats up on the Rockies facing a pitcher who gives up his fair share of homers is a bad combo. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatís Jr. each homered early off Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之) to put the Rockies at a disadvantage from the jump.
Sugano gave up two homers for the fourth time in his last seven games as the Rockies once again found themselves down early and without enough offense to come back.
Machado hit a two-out solo homer in the first inning to put the Padres up immediately. In the second inning, Jackson Merrill led off with a single, Xander Bogaerts drew a one-out walk and Rockies killer Jake Cronenworth hit an RBI single to put the Padres up 2-1. Freddy Fermin followed with a sac fly, which set the table for Tatis’ two-run bomb to increase San Diego’s lead to 5-1. Just like that, it was four hits, one walk and five runs.
“Tomo was behind in counts and, therefore, got hit hard like hanging a two-strike breaking ball to Machado in the first,” Schaeffer said. “I just thought he was behind in counts and didn’t get to really see his good stuff with two strikes.
Sugano was hit hard again in the third when he gave up a double to Ty France and Merrill hit his second RBI double as San Diego went up 6-1. Sugano got a double play to get out of the inning and gave up lone singles in the fourth and fifth innings, but didn’t allow further damage. He was pulled after five innings, giving up six runs on eight hits with two stikeouts and one walk.
Stuck in the Mize maze
Casey Mize gave up a two-out double to Hunter Goodman and an RBI single to TJ Rumfield in the first inning when the Rockies briefly tied the game, but then regained control. Rumfield extended his on-base streak to 19 games, which is second-best in Rockies history.
Despite allowing a runner in each of the five innings he pitched, Mize didn’t allow any more runs for the next three innings. In the fifth, Connor Norby singled and Goodman drew a walk, once again providing runners for the hitting machine that is TJ Rumfield. Collecting his second run-scoring hit, the first baseman cut San Diego’s lead to 6-2.
After five innings, Mize gave up eight hits and two walks, but only allowed two runs.
“I thought we played a very good game. I thought we battled all day. We had Mize on the ropes from the get-go, traffic every inning, solid at-bats up and down the lineup. We let ‘em off the hook a few times like with a double play ball [Tovar hit into one in the second inning],” Schaeffer said. “It’s easy when you get down 6-1 and you’re on a seven-game losing streak to mail it in. But the guys in that room didn’t do that and that’s why we’re going to be good here eventually.”
Sticks come alive in late
When Kyle Hart entered the game for San Diego in the sixth and issued back-to-back one-out walks to Adael Amador and Ezequiel Tovar, the Rockies finally took advantage. Jake McCarthy came up clutch with his 10th triple of the season to plate in his 79th and 80th RBIs and cut San Diego’s lead in half.
Norby followed with a sacrifice grounder to score McCarthy and the Rockies were back in the game only down 6-4. Goodman then hit a triple of his own, reaching base for the third consecutive time, but the Rockies rally was done. Unfortunately, when Goodman came back out to catch in the bottom of the frame, he was struggling with left thumb soreness and had to leave the game. The injury came from a head-first slide on his triple.
“He jammed his thumb going into third base. We’ll re-evaluate tomorrow,” Schaeffer said.
In the seventh, Cole Carrigg smashed a 96-mph Bradgley Rodriguez fastball 424 feet to right field to cut the Padres lead to 7-6. The blast was Carrigg’s eighth of the year.
In the eighth, Tovar singled and Norby came up with a huge double that once again cut the Padres’ lead to one at 8-7. But Brett Sullivan, who entered the game after Goodman left injured, and Rumfield each grounded out to strand Norby at second.
In the ninth, Kyle Karros posted an infield single that hit off Miller’s leg, but Amador hit a high-bouncing chopper to end the game.
Bullpen blemishes
Blas Castaño relieved Sugano in the sixth and put up a scoreless 1.1 innings. Mark Manfredi’s outing didn’t go as well. With one out in the seventh, he walked Dustin Harris. Harris then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before coming home to score on a France RBI single.
Juan Mejia was able to end the seventh without surrendering any more runs, but he did give up one in the eighth when he gave up two singles and then an RBI double to Harris. Jordan Romano threw a scoreless ninth to give the Rockies a chance.
The Rockies actually struck out the Padres eight times, while only striking out twice themselves (both off Miller in the ninth). Sugano, Castaño, Mejia and Romano all posted two strikeouts apiece.
Up next
The Rockies and Padres will be back at it on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.37 ERA) is back from the IL and will start for Colorado, while Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.61 ERA)will start for San Diego.
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