Rockies rally for dramatic loss, fall to 3-16

Rockies Report, Game 19:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Maybe all Colorado needed was Clint Hurdle?

OK, their former manager-turned-hitting coach wasn’t going to wave any magic wands around the batting cage. But the Rockies exploded for 11 runs Saturday afternoon — their second-highest total of the season to date — in the series opener against the Washington Nationals.


The only problem was that Washington scored 12.

The Rox dug themselves a 12-2 hole, then scrambled back, pulled within one run and had the tying run on third, but were undone by a bugaboo of the team’s horrific start — strikeouts — as Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan got Jordan Beck looking with Mickey Moniak standing on third base, allowing Washington to escape with a 12-11 win that dropped Colorado to 3-16.

Moments earlier, Moniak drove home Hunter Goodman with a triple down the right-field line, capping a 2-for-4 day that included a two-run homer in the second inning.

Beck — who returned to the major-league roster Saturday from AAA Albuquerque when Brenton Doyle went on the bereavement list — also delivered another big blow, clearing the bases in the seventh with a two-out triple that tailed away from Nats left fielder Alex Call, catching him flat-footed. That capped an 8-run inning — the Rockies’ highest output in an inning since Aug. 9, 2022 against the St. Louis Cardinals — and drew the Rockies within 12-10.

Colorado’s comeback was actually not a surprise — although the magnitude was — even though Colorado’s offense has been ineffective most of the season. It came on the heels of Wednesday’s seven-run outburst, and happened at the expense of a Washington bullpen that entered with the league’s worst ERA, and proceeded to live down to its gas-can reputation.

But on an afternoon that saw rookie starter Chase Dollander get shelled, a pair of defensive mishaps in the fourth inning — one of which was ruled an error — provide the propulsion for the Nats to pile up 5 runs, and then a rough seventh inning at the expense of reliever Luis Peralta, Colorado’s best offensive day of the season to date wasn’t enough.

STARTER’S REPORT: A day like this was inevitable for Chase Dollander, one where the primary concern through his spring-training work — a high home-run rate — caught up with him for more than the occasional blip: four home runs.

“It’s the school of hard knocks. He’ll learn that location is a premium,” manager Bud Black said at his postgame press conference. “Some pitches didn’t get to the spot.”

It wasn’t just the frequency of the bombs at Dollander’s expense Saturday, it was that three of them came with runners on base — a pair of two-run shots by Dylan Crews and James Wood’s three-run blast to left field in the fourth inning that truly sent matters spiraling out of control.

It’s part of the education of a young pitcher, Black said.

“He’ll learn the importance of fastball location and the ability to keep the ball down overall,” Black explained.

Black lifted Dollander for Jake Bird after surrendering the second home run to Crews with no outs in the fifth inning. This was the first time Dollander failed to make it through five innings in any of his starts. He exited after 78 pitches, 51 for strikes.

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Beck watched as Finnegan’s fastball caught just enough of the bottom outside corner of the zone to result in a called third strike.


ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: 17 — Number of strikeouts for the Rockies, including a pair that saw batters caught looking in the ninth inning. Six of the 17 were by Beck and Aaron Schunk, both of whom were called up Saturday to fill in for Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar, respectively. Tovar landed on the injured list retroactive to last Wednesday with a hip contusion.

ROCKIES UNIFORM: Black hat with purple bill, white pinstriped jersey, white pinstriped pants; the Rockies have a 2-4 record this season in their base home uniform.

WHAT’S NEXT: A doubleheader thanks to Friday’s postponement. Kyle Freeland will start the opener at 1:10 p.m. MDT; Antonio Senzatela will go in the 6:10 p.m. nightcap.

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