On a day when the University of Denver hockey team won their historic 11th National Championship, it felt like nothing could go wrong in the Colorado sports world. Alas, there was no more Mile High Magic to go around for the Colorado Rockies (or Colorado Avalanche) tonight.
Things got off to a promising start. Ryan Feltner looked sharp early and the offense came out swinging with some big bombs on Germán Márquez in his first start against the Rockies since signing with the San Diego Padres this offseason.
The start wouldn’t last, as the Padres would quickly get back in front and pull away in the middle innings.
Pioneering the way
What the Rockies possibly needed most in this game was a hot start against starter Germán Márquez. They got just that.
Márquez has been susceptible early and often this season. Across his two starts, he carried a 13.50 first-inning ERA into today’s game. He had also given up 14 hits over eight innings pitched.
The Rockies hope was to put runners on base and rattle him with some early runs. Edouard Julien started that with a leadoff single. Julien attempted to steal second, was called out, but a successful challenge kept him there.
That would prove vital as Mickey Moniak hammered a two-run homer to right for an early lead.
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The Padres nearly responded in the bottom of the inning, reaching second and third. With those runners in prime position to score, Nick Castellanos boomed a deep drive to left. With a save that was reminiscent of DU goalie Johnny Hicks, Jordan Beck made an incredible leaping grab at the left field wall to rob Castellanos of a three-run homer and the lead to end the inning.
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And the purple coat would not stay away for long!
Julien would come back around and extend the early lead with a solo shot in the top of the third, right before Moniak would do the same with his second of the night, bringing the game to 4-0.
Trust the “proscess”
Following in the footsteps of DU hockey’s intentionally misspelled motto, the Rockies would trust in their gameplan and try to weather some storms.
The Friars got back into things with a strong three run third inning. With runners on first and third, Jackson Merrill would drive in a run on a grounder that was nearly a double play, bringing things to 4-1. With the next at-bat, Manny Machado blasted a two-run homer into left-center to make things a one-run game.
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Márquez would settle things down, securing a 1-2-3 fourth inning. That, unfortunately, set the stage for the Padres to take the lead.
After striking out Gavin Sheets, Feltner gave up a double to Miguel Andujar and walked Freddy Fermin. Feltner nearly escaped, striking out Jake Cronenworth for the second out.
Ramón Laureano seized the opportunity with a three-run homer, giving San Diego a 6-4 lead heading into the fifth.
Similar start, different finish
Feltner and Márquez entered the matchup with eerily similar stat lines across their two starts.
In his two games, Feltner went 1-0 across 8.1 innings with a 4.32 ERA, one home run surrendered, and five strikeouts. Márquez was 1-1 across 8.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, two home runs, and five strikeouts.
Despite a shakier start, Márquez would get the better of Feltner tonight.
After a scoreless first and second, Feltner gave up six runs on seven hits, including two home runs, with three walks, four strikeouts, and a 7.30 ERA for the night.
On the flipside, after giving up four runs in the first two innings, Márquez would rebound and post a 5.54 ERA after five innings of work, with just four hits, including three home runs, five strikeouts, and two walks.
An opportunity on thin ice
The Rockies chances quickly slipped away as the game went on.
Zach Agnos entered in relief of Feltner in the bottom of the fifth and didn’t fare much better. He made it through the fifth unscathed, but would lose control in the sixth. After Fermin reached base on an error, Agnos would walk the next three batters and walk in a run to put the game at 7-4.
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Agnos finished his night with a 7.56 ERA on top of those three walks and three runs (two earned) surrendered.
There, things went from bad to worse. Brennan Bernardino came in and immediately gave up a double to Jackson Merrill pushing the score to 9-4. He intentionally walked Castellanos before striking out Gavin Sheets to limit the damage.
Take me home, country roads
The ol’ Fighting Rocks would not go quietly. The makings of a rally would come together in the eighth and ninth.
Ezequiel Tovar doubled in the top of the eighth. Moniak’s hot night continued with an RBI single to right field to bring Tovar home and make it 9-5. Moniak finished 3-for-4 with four RBI on two home runs.
Entering the ninth down four, Willi Castro struck out swinging and Brett Sullivan popped out for outs one and two. Just when it looked all but over, things got exciting.
TJ Rumfield, pinch-hititng for Kyle Karros, hit a line drive single to center. Tyler Freeman singled to right. Julien drew a walk on a wonderful at bat to load the bases. The situation forced a San Diego pitching change, bringing in Jason Adam to close things out. Tovar got behind in the count early and popped out to second for the final nail in the coffin.
A lot went well early and late tonight. It was nice to see the Rockies work with a decent lead early on. It felt promising that the big deficit led to an inspired rally. Ultimately, Warren Schaeffer highlighted the team’s seven walks, noting that you won’t win many games that way. The Rockies leave this one with some nice things to point to, but plenty left to clean up.
Up Next
The Rockies will ride three straight losses into the finale of this four game series out in Petco Park on Sunday afternoon.
Back at the top of the rotation, Kyle Freeland will take the mound against Nick Pivetta for a 2:10 p.m. MT first pitch.
The Rockies will look to escape the series with a win before shipping off to Texas for an early season rematch with the Houston Astros.
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