Rockies see another one slip away in 5-4 defeat

Rockies Report, Game 154:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Colorado’s 11th defeat in its last 12 games was one of the most frustrating of its recent tailspin.

After pulling themselves out of a 3-0 hole halfway through the first inning to eventually take a 4-3 lead, the Rockies lost that edge after allowing a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and a Lazaro Montes homer off Jordan Romano in the ninth inning, sentencing the Rox to a 5-4 loss in front of 40,203 on a fireworks night at Coors Field.

Colorado clawed its way back thanks to a Cole Carrigg RBI single in the first inning, an RBI single from Jake McCarthy in the fourth and a run-scoring triple from him in his next at-bat in the sixth and a Connor Norby RBI single one pitch after McCarthy’s triple.

Tie Game ✅
Go-Ahead 😊 pic.twitter.com/pxVnpQw4uQ

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 19, 2026

But the Mariners had all the answers from there against Colorado’s bullpen.

The Rockies fell to 56-98 and will need to go 7-1 in their final eight games to avoid becoming MLB’s first team with four-consecutive 100-defeat campaigns since the 1962-65 New York Mets.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Gabriel Hughes didn’t make it out of the fifth inning, as the Mariners drove up his pitch count, sending him to the showers after 95 pitches with two outs in that frame. But he did well at rebounding from a rough first inning, recovering from a rough opening in which he allowed a homer and two doubles in 14 pitches before finally recording an out.

After yielding a two-out, 2-RBI single to Josh Naylor in the first inning, Hughes retired the next 11 Mariners he faced before issuing a four-pitch walk to Brock Rodden. Mark Manfredi relieved Hughes following Randy Arozarena’s two-out single in the fifth and stranded both of the runners inherited from Hughes.

As seen in the first inning, the big inning continues to be Hughes’ bugaboo, but he got into the nicest groove he’s experienced as a major-leaguer after that.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Mickey Moniak fanned for the 27th out.

NUMBER TO NOTE: .993 — OPS allowed to opposing batters at Coors Field by Dollander this year. For the sake of comparison, Shohei Ohtani’s career OPS is .951, so for Dollander, the output is like facing a batter slightly more prolific than Ohtani all the time.

WHAT’S NEXT: Left-hander Jose Quintana returns from the injured list in his first major-league start since May 24 at Arizona. Bryce Miller gets the call for Seattle in Saturday’s 6:10 p.m. MDT contest.

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