The Rockies were on the doorstep of a rare three-game winning streak, but the majors’ worst bullpen reverted to the typical script instead.
Nick Mears and Justin Lawrence combined to yield two runs in the ninth in a frame that featured two walks and a hit by pitch. That messed up Colorado’s well-pitched game to that point and gave the Brewers a 4-3 comeback win on the second night of the series on Tuesday at Coors Field.
“Anytime you walk guys in the ninth in a one-run game, you put yourself in peril,” manager Bud Black said.
Mears’ blown save negated a strong outing by starter Ryan Feltner and wiped away another good night at the dish by Brenton Doyle, who homered and had an eighth-inning RBI double to give Colorado a short-lived lead.
“It’s frustrating,” left fielder Nolan Jones said. “… As a team, we’ve got to win those games.”
The defeat marked the Rockies’ seventh loss this year when leading after eight innings, the most such losses in the majors, and their 14 losses in the last at-bat of a game are also an MLB-high.
Sal Frelick gave the Brewers an early lead with his RBI single in the second inning that made it 1-0.
But the Rockies responded in the bottom of the second. Doyle blasted a leadoff homer down the left-field line that just cleared the fence inside the foul pole for his third homer this series. Then after Jacob Stallings’ triple, Michael Toglia’s sacrifice fly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.
From there, the game settled into a pitcher’s duel. Feltner finished with one earned run over five innings, while former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel — acquired last week from the Mariners for $1 — threw 5 2/3 innings with two earned runs.
“(Feltner) battled,” Black said. “He made some pitches when he needed to. They put some stress on him, got the six hits and a couple walks. But there were some moments when he pitched really well, even as some at-bats got away from him.”
Feltner was happy with his outing and his ability to work around traffic as he built off the momentum from his last start, when he allowed two runs over six innings to the Astros last week.
“I was able to battle through those bad counts and situations with runners on, which is not always the case, so that’s a positive for me,” Feltner said.
The Brewers tied the game in the seventh off Ty Blach, capitalizing on Jackson Chourio’s leadoff single. Two batters later, Brice Turang skied a pop-up to right field that Hunter Goodman lost in the lights. It fell in for a double that should’ve been an easy out, scoring Chourio to make it 2-2.
But the Rockies defense overcame that blunder to ensure the game stayed tied. With two outs in the inning, Willy Adames singled to left and Nolan Jones threw out Turang at the plate. Jones’ 100.8 mph laser was the second-fastest assist in the majors this year, behind his 101.3 mph throw in the third inning of Monday’s series opener.
“What a special arm… we saw it last year when he had (19) assists,” Black said. “It’s been apparent that third base coaches around the league are holding guys up and teams really aren’t running on (Jones and Doyle). That was a missile. Nolan’s got one of the best arms in the game, as does Brenton.”
Before Doyle’s would-be decisive stroke in the eighth off southpaw Bryan Hudson, Ryan McMahon drew a leadoff walk and then advanced to second on a throwing error by William Contreras, who threw an ill-advised attempted back pick into right field.
After Jalen Beeks threw a scoreless eighth, Mears was in line for his first career save in the ninth.
But a leadoff single by Andruw Monasterio, a walk to Turang and a broken-bat infield single by Christian Yelich loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Adames tied the game. After another walk to re-load the bases, Mears was lifted for Justin Lawrence, who plunked Rhys Hoskins to hand Milwaukee a 4-3 advantage.
“Obviously I didn’t want the hit by pitch, because especially at that point in the game with two outs, you want them to earn that run that puts them ahead,” Lawrence said. “That stinks. … That pitch just got away from me. I made some good pitches with the slider away, and thought I could locate a fastball in.”
Right-hander Trevor Megill then worked around McMahon’s two-out single in the ninth for his 18th save of the season.
Colorado fell to 12-12 in one-run games this year. The last and only time the Rockies won three games in a row was in mid-May, when they put together a season-high seven-game winning streak.
Injury updates. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. He threw a bullpen on Tuesday at Coors Field, the first day he started re-incorporating breaking balls into his routine. The next steps: a couple more bullpens, then live hitting simulations against Colorado hitters, which may happen on next week’s road trip. A rehab stint would follow, and a September return to the rotation remains in the cards. … Rookie Jordan Beck, who has missed 34 games with a fractured left hand suffered on a dive in the outfield, is progressing. His cast is off and he’s back to doing baseball activities. … Outfielder/first baseman Kris Bryant ran, threw and hit again on Tuesday as he continues to ramp up baseball activities, but there’s still to timetable for his return in rib/oblique injuries that landed him on the injured list on June 3.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Brewers RHP Colin Rea (7-2, 3.61 ERA) at RHP Dakota Hudson (2-11, 5.84)
6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Hudson took his NL-worst 11th loss in his last outing, allowing five runs on six hits and five walks against the White Sox, and has lost his last four starts. He’s been bad at Coors Field this year, with an 8.58 ERA in eight starts. And in 10 career appearances against the Brewers (seven starts), Hudson is 1-4 with a 5.14 ERA. Walks have been a major issue compounding Hudson’s poor performance, as he hasn’t had a start without one this year, and has walked four or more batters on five different occasions. Meanwhile, Rea’s been looking strong for Milwaukee. He had a 3.25 ERA across five June starts, and only Charlie Blackmon and Jake Cave have faced him off Colorado’s current roster.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (5-2, 3.26) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (6-6, 3.78), 6:10 p.m.
Friday: Royals LHP Cole Ragans (5-6, 3.33) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 7.94), 6:10 p.m.
Saturday: Royals RHP Seth Lugo (11-2, 2.17) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-5, 4.72), 7:10 p.m.
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