The Rockies did something that had never been done before

Until the 2024 Colorado Rockies, no team in the modern era had ever blown four games in a single season when leading by four or more runs in the ninth inning or later.

But the Rockies, whose bullpen has been battered basically from Opening Day onward, pulled off this dubious accomplishment, losing an 8-4 ninth-inning lead to the National League’s worst team to fall 9-8 on Tuesday night.

With Victor Vodnik on the injured list, Tyler Kinley attempted to close for a second-straight night. He earned the save in Monday night’s series opener, but he allowed all four Marlins batters he faced to leave base, exiting the mound after Miami’s Jake Burger fired a bases-loaded missile into the left-center-field wall that scored two runs.

“I just didn’t do a good job executing pitches,” Kinley said.

Angel Chivilli entered to relieve Kinley with two on, none out and the Rockies’ 8-4 lead cut in half. In one pitch, all doubt about the debacle vanished, as Jesús Sánchez turned on an 88-MPH changeup, launching it into the right-field stands for a 3-run blast that provided the final margin.

Jesús! #MarlinsBeisbol pic.twitter.com/K8FB6cnq9k

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 28, 2024

“The changeup was elevated, and elevated changeups can do what they did today against Sánchez,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

The shell-shocked Rockies went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.

Colorado’s bullpen collapse spoiled a sterling night from shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who went 4-for-4 with home runs in the first and second innings. Charlie Blackmon and Sam Hilliard also contributed solo shots, with Blackmon’s coming immediately before Tovar’s initial blast in the bottom of the first inning.

Kinley and Chivilli shut down the Marlins to seal a Monday night win. Tuesday was lamentably different.

“It just goes to show you that in baseball, 24 hours can make a difference,” manager Bud Black said. “In this game, nothing’s predictable.”

But given that these Rockies have frittered away late-inning leads unlike any other team in the modern era, it might not be predictable … but it’s happening at a historic rate.

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