The weather changed throughout Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field, and the game kept moving with it.
One day after being shut out in a 10-0 loss to the Rangers, the Rockies gave themselves a chance to take the series. They grabbed an early lead, lost it when Texas went back-to-back in the fourth, then fought back with pressure, patience, and timely contact to carry a one-run lead into the ninth.
But when Texas played its late hand, Colorado could not match it.
Homers hurt Freeland before traffic ends his day
Kyle Freeland is still searching for consistency since returning from the IL, and Wednesday brought more of the same: traffic on the bases and hard contact in key spots.
He handled it early.
Freeland worked a clean first inning and faced the minimum through two after Josh Jung’s leadoff single in the second was erased by a Kyle Karros-to-Edouard Julien-to-TJ Rumfield double play. In the third, he gave up a two-out double to Sam Haggerty and walked Andrew McCutchen, but got Justin Foscue looking to keep the Rangers off the board.
The fourth inning brought the damage.
After Jung singled with one out, Ezequiel Duran jumped a knuckle curve and sent it 373 feet at 106.2 mph for a two-run homer. One batter later, Jake Burger crushed a changeup 409 feet at 108.4 mph to give Texas back-to-back home runs and a 3-1 lead.
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Freeland came back out for the fifth and got the first two outs, but he could not finish the inning. Foscue singled, Brandon Nimmo followed with a hard-hit single, and Freeland walked Jung to load the bases. His afternoon was done.
Jaden Hill entered and got Duran to ground out, stranding all three inherited runners.
Freeland finished with three runs allowed on seven hits over 4.2 innings. He walked two, struck out four, and threw 89 pitches, 56 for strikes.
Rockies make Leiter work
The Rockies did not match Texas’ power, but they did enough against Jack Leiter.
Leiter had velocity, with his four-seam fastball averaging 95.4 mph, but Colorado made him work in the fourth and fifth innings. The Rockies put the ball in play, forced traffic, and took advantage when his command slipped.
The key at-bat came in the fourth.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Karros was called out on strikes. He challenged the pitch, the call was overturned, and the Rockies had a bases-loaded walk instead of an inning-ending strikeout. That made it 3-2.
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Colorado took the lead in the fifth. Jake McCarthy tripled to center, Tyler Freeman singled him home, and Troy Johnston added a two-out RBI single to put the Rockies ahead.
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The Rockies did not homer against Leiter, but they found runs through McCarthy’s speed, Karros’ plate discipline, Freeman’s contact, and Johnston’s two-out hit. Leiter finished with four runs allowed on seven hits over five innings. He walked two, struck out five, and threw 83 pitches, 55 for strikes.
Bullpen holds until the ninth
After stranding the bases loaded in the fifth, Hill stayed in for the sixth and worked around a two-out single to post another zero. He finished with 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with no walks, and was helped by a nice play from Rumfield, one of several solid defensive plays by the Rockies on the day.
Antonio Senzatela followed with two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. He allowed two hits, struck out one, and lowered his season ERA to 1.19 while getting the Rockies to the ninth with a 4-3 lead.
Then Texas went all in…
Brennan Bernardino got the first out in the ninth, but Joc Pederson reached on catcher interference, Justin Foscue singled, and Alejandro Osuna loaded the bases with an infield single. Juan Mejia entered, but a passed ball tied the game before Jung singled through the left side to put Texas ahead.
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Bernardino was charged with two runs, one earned, over one-third of an inning. Mejia kept the deficit at one by striking out Duran and getting Burger to hit a hard grounder to Willi Castro at second.
Can’t ante up
With the rain coming down in the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies had a chance to answer but went in order. Karros flew out, Braxton Fulford struck out as a pinch-hitter, and McCarthy grounded out to end a 5-4 loss after Colorado had led entering the ninth.
The loss dropped the Rockies to 19-31, while Texas improved to 24-25. Colorado gave itself a real chance to win, but folded in the ninth and let the game slip away.
Up Next
The Rockies head to Phoenix to open a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday at Chase Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. MDT.
Colorado has not announced a starter. Arizona is scheduled to start left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who enters at 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 39 strikeouts.
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