Guardians star Jose Ramirez did heavy lifting at the plate on Tuesday. So when he got the chance to be a passenger on the game-changing homer, he stopped short of rounding third, turned to watch the ball fly over the wall, and held up his hands in joy.
Ramirez finished with a homer, a double, two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored in Cleveland’s 13-7 triumph that took the shine off Colorado’s recent momentum over the past three weeks.
The Rockies’ loss, started by an opening homer from Ramirez and underscored by a two-homer performance from Josh Naylor, was punctuated by rough performances from both starter Ryan Feltner and the bullpen on a beautiful night at Coors Field.
“With Ryan, we’ve got to get him to consistently get the ball down,” manager Bud Black said. “There’s just too many balls pitch-to-pitch that are elevated.”
Feltner allowed seven runs (six earned) over four-plus innings, while right-hander Matt Carasiti gave up the decisive no-doubter to David Fry on a hanging 0-2 forkball that also scored Ramirez and Naylor.
“That was a really good at-bat by Fry,” Black said. “… With the way Fry has been swinging, (it’s no wonder) it was a homer.”
Fry’s swing in the seventh was the turning point in a game that see-sawed before Guardians were able to take temporary control in the fifth, chasing Feltner from the mound in the process.
“My changeups weren’t moving,” Feltner said. “Those were pitches that I probably could’ve hit out, and those were to really good hitters (in Ramirez and Naylor). They took advantage. … I just didn’t feel good with my stuff tonight. Frustrating.
“Our offense did a good job of putting up runs early in the game and giving us a chance, but I didn’t do my job.”
Cleveland struck first via Ramirez’s two-run homer to right-center in the opening inning. But the struggling Kris Bryant responded in the third, mashing a two-out, two-run dinger 428 feet to left off right-hander Triston McKenzie.
“I feel like ever since I’ve come back (from the injured list), I’ve felt good about my at-bats, I’m taking my walks, hitting some balls hard,” Bryant said. “Things are moving in the right direction, so it was nice to see one go over the fence. (McKenzie) was throwing me tons of spin, and my first at-bat he tried to sneak (a fastball) on the inside corner. I saw it pretty good, and to see one go up on the concourse like that, I haven’t done that in a while. That was a good feeling.”
The back-and-forth continued into the middle innings.
Each team plated a pair of runs in the fourth to make it 4-4, first the Guardians by using a pair of sacrifice flies with the bases loaded. Cleveland’s hitting that inning was jump-started by Bryant’s error on a grounder down the first-base line, a gaff that turned the goodwill from his homer into a chorus of boos.
“That was a fairly simple double-play ball, and I just got ahead of myself thinking I was going to tag the bag and throw it (to second),” Bryant said.
The Rockies responded in the bottom of the inning thanks to Elehuris Montero’s two-run jack to left that caused McKenzie’s shoulders to slump as the pitcher pouted around the mound.
“My focus is to keep hitting the ball hard, and keep hitting it as far as I can,” Montero said. “Thankfully today, it landed where it did. … Obviously my average isn’t the best right now (at .223), and it’s something I’ll continue to work on and want to improve.”
But Feltner gave the lead right back to Cleveland in the fifth via Naylor’s two-run homer to right, followed by an RBI single from Kyle Manzardo. That gave Colorado a 7-4 deficit and earned Feltner the hook before Peter Lambert came on to induce an inning-ending double play.
“That double-play ball kept us in check there,” Black said.
After Charlie Blackmon had a highlight grab in right field for the second time in as many days — this time on a sinking flyball, the sequel to his sliding catch in foul territory on Monday — the Rockies rallied to tie the game 7-7 in the sixth off Cleveland southpaw Tim Herrin. Blackmon had an RBI single, followed by Montero scoring on a wild pitch and Ryan McMahon’s RBI single.
But the Guardians threw the final one-two punch. When Lambert walked Ramirez with one out in the seventh, Carasiti entered the game and promptly walked Naylor on four pitches.
Fry’s 401-foot dinger followed, and then in the eighth, Naylor notched his third career multi-homer game — and poured salt in the wound of an awful performance by Carasiti — with a 438-foot homer to right. That extended the Guardians’ lead to 13-7, a season high in runs for the visitors, while Colorado was unable to muster any offense over its final three frames.
Easy Cheese update. Right-hander German Marquez continues to make his way back from Tommy John surgery, with hopes he’ll rejoin the Rockies’ rotation after the all-star break. Black didn’t want to put an exact timeline on it, but believes the pitcher’s return could be even sooner than that.
Marquez threw a 25-pitch bullpen on Tuesday afternoon at about 85% effort, and said his elbow feels good. This comes after Marquez recently experienced a slight setback in his rehab, experiencing some tightness behind his elbow after pitching in the Arizona Complex League. He got a cortisone shot after that outing and said his elbow now feels fine.
“It’s been tough being out, but this is going to make me a better athlete, better pitcher, better person,” Marquez said. “I know I just have to keep working to get back. … I’ll see how I feel after the next bullpen, but I might be ready to start facing live hitters before going on (a rehab assignment to Triple-A).”
Other injury updates. Outfielder Nolan Jones, who sprained his MCL while sliding into second base about two weeks ago while on a rehab assignment with the Isotopes for his back injury, did full baseball activities on Tuesday. That included baserunning, and Jones believes “I’m getting there. … Hopefully I’ll be back the middle to end of next week.” …. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela is still “a ways away” from returning from his Tommy John surgery. Black believes the best-case scenario for Senzatela is to rejoin the rotation in September. Like Marquez, the Rockies aren’t going to rush him.
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Guardians LHP Logan Allen (4-2, 4.91) at Rockies LHP Ty Blach (1-2, 4.55)
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
After getting blasted for six runs in three innings on May 18 in San Francisco, Blach settled back in his last start, dealing six-plus innings of two-run ball in an eventual 3-2 extra-innings win over the Phillies last weekend. Blach’s done an excellent job of limiting walks — he’s had just five in 27.2 innings this year and ranks in the 89th percentile of all MLB pitchers in that regard — but true to his usual form, he’s not inducing many swings-and-misses (bottom 1 percentile in MLB in whiff percentage) or strikeouts (also bottom 1 percentile in K percentage). Meanwhile, Allen’s been decent over his last three starts, two of which were six-inning shutouts. He’s never pitched against the Rockies.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (1-7, 5.54) at Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler (1-2, 4.26), 8:10 p.m.
Saturday: Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (4-3, 3.53) at Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-2, 3.51), 8:10 p.m.
Sunday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (1-2, 2.76) at Dodgers TBA, 2:10 p.m.
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