Kris Bryant sits with back issues as Rockies absorb pounding

DENVER — Kris Bryant wasn’t in the lineup for the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. But even Peak Bryant — harkening back to his salad days as an MVP in Chicago — likely wouldn’t have made a difference as the Cincinnati Reds treated Rockies pitching as a revitalizing tonic for its ailing lineup.

Starter Ryan Feltner — who hasn’t been credited with a win at Coors Field since Sep. 11, 2022 — allowed 10 hits and 8 earned runs over 4 1/3 innings as Cincinnati destroyed the Rockies 13-3 to open a 3-game series Monday night.

Every Reds player to record a plate appearance recorded a hit, including eighth-inning substitute Jacob Hurtubise, who singled in his only at-bat. Cincinnati finished the night with 18 hits, with 6 of its players recording multi-hit nights as the Reds steadily accumulated baserunners and runs, eventually scoring in all but 3 innings.

“I think there were too many pitches not down enough and not up enough,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Feltner’s performance.

“… He just didn’t execute a number of pitches when he needed to.”

It didn’t get much better from the bullpen, although the Rockies were able to limit bullpen use to two arms: Josh Rogers and Angel Chivilli. The latter made his major-league debut after receiving a call-up directly from AA Hartford.

“You guys are gonna like the stuff, and I think he’s gonna be fine. I think he’s gotta harness the fastball a bit; the fastballs were elevated today,” Black said.

Colorado has lost three of its last four games since a 4-2 homestand that included series wins over the teams with the best records in the National League (Philadelphia) and American League (Cleveland).

Brendan Rodgers hit his third home run of the season in the third inning, but it was far from enough.

KRIS BRYANT OUT WITH MORE BACK ISSUES



Kris Bryant sat out Monday’s game due to a sore back that set in after he contorted himself and collided with the wall to make a catch of a pop foul from Los Angeles’ Mookie Betts on Sunday.

Bryant landed on the injured list April 17 due to back stiffness. He continues to have a negative WAR for the season — minus-0.7, per baseball-reference.com.

In 11 games since returning from the injured list, Kris Bryant has a .231/.348/.308 line. That isn’t great, but it’s better than the .149/.273/.255 line he carried before landing on the IL.

The Rockies also gave third baseman Ryan McMahon an off-day. Black elected to use a right-handed lineup against Cincinnati’s southpaw starter, Andrew Abbott, who settled down after a skittish start, eventually going 6 innings.

After allowing 6 hits and a walk in the first three innings, Abbott yielded just a single base hit in innings four through six. Meanwhile, the Reds tagged Feltner and Rogers for 7 runs in that same mid-game span to salt away the game in front of 25,140 at Coors Field.