For a few moments, it looked like Jake McCarthy had hit a walk-off home run that would have given the Rockies a 3-2 win in a game that ended four hours and 33 minutes after it started.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
McCarthy’s bomb with two outs in the bottom of the ninth was headed into the water feature beyond the center field fence at Coors Field, but Baltimore’s Colton Cowser timed his jump perfectly and reached over the wall to rob the homer and bring the Orioles to .500 (69-69) on Monday night.
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“It’s like a knife to the heart. The boys played hard all game long,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That’s a great play to end the game. Jake had a heck of a swing in a big-time, big moment. Three more inches, we win. But we lose. And we’re going to come up tomorrow and try to win that ballgame.”
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead before Baltimore tied it up 1-1 in the fifth. A one-hour and 38-minute rain delay then changed the course of the game and sent the Rockies to their fifth straight loss and 10th consecutive at Coors Field.
Raining on Gordon’s parade
Rain cut Tanner Gordon’s night short, and we’ll never know if he could have had a longer night, but he made the most of the five innings he had. Through four innings, Gordon was rolling. He gave up one infield single in the second, but no damage was done. In the second, he recorded the first of his three strikeouts.
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In the third, Gordon walked Leody Taveras, who was then thrown out attempting to swipe second base by Goodman. Back-to-back doubles from Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo to lead off the fifth inning tied the game at 1-1. Gordon bounced back with two groundouts sandwiching a strikeout to end the inning.
When the rain ended Gordon’s night prematurely, he’d given up one run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk. After a seven-inning, one-run performance in his last outing, Gordon seems to be settling into his starter role, according to Schaeffer.
“I thought TG stacked another good one on top of the last one. I thought he was really good,” Schaeffer said. “I thought he pounded the strike zone. His spin was good, change was good, heater was good. He got ahead in counts. He did everything you want your starter to do.”
Blame it on the rain?
The Rockies relievers who came in after Gordon really struggled with control. At first, Mark Manfredi looked sharp, walking one but then getting Gunnar Henderson to ground into a double play to end the inning. In the seventh, the walks came. Manfredi got one flyball out in between walking Coby Mayo and Basallo, which was enough for Schaeffer to pull him from the game.
Unfortunately, Nick Frasso was also in walk mode. He issued a free pass to Blaze Alexander to load the bases. It seemed like the Rockies might escape unscathed when Cowser hit a grounder to Connor Norby. Norby tried to turn a double play, but his throw wasn’t as quick as it needed to be and Ezequiel Tovar threw a hopper to Rumfield at first. Initially, the umpire called Cowser out, but Baltimore called for a review and the decision was overturned, allowing the Orioles to go up 2-1.
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Shockingly, despite walking four Orioles, the Rockies didn’t give up a hit in the seventh and were able to prevent any more runs.
“Four walks in the seventh, not good, obviously,” Schaeffer said. “And then a tailor-made double play is not turned. Colton Cowser won that game for them, getting down the line for a run and then obviously that play at the end.”
Brennan Bernardino threw a scoreless eighth, only allowing one single, while Jordan Romano threw a perfect ninth to give the Rockies a chance to win it.
Swinging before the rain
The Rockies got on the board first in the fourth inning when Hunter Goodman led off with a double. TJ Rumfield followed with a walk, but then Willi Castro struck out and Mickey Moniak grounded out, which at least moved the runners up. But a promising inning with no outs quickly had two. Luckily, Jordan Beck was able to cash in with a single up the middle to score Goodman.
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Troy Johnston, who doubled in the ninth to start the would-be rally, drew a walk to load the bases, but Tovar followed up with a fly out with the bases loaded.
Bad luck followed in the fifth when Goodman drew a two-out walk only to be called out when a single off the bat of Rumfield hit him and turned him into the final out of the inning. Through five innings, the Rockies had five hits, but only one run to show for it because they left five runners on base.
Then the rain — and the delay — came.
The weather also ended the night for Orioles lefty Cade Povich, who only gave up one run despite surrendering five hits and three walks. He also struck out four Rockies in five innings.
Up next
The Rockies and Orioles will be back at it on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 6:40 p.m. Colorado’s RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-6, 6.61) will face off against Baltimore’s RHP Kyle Bradish (7-12, 4.03).
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