Rockies fall behind 2-0 in first seven pitches, never catch up in 7-4 loss

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 48:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Phillies pounced on Antonio Senzatela before most of the 24,431 on hand could settle into their seats, taking a 2-0 lead in the first seven pitches and ultimately dealing the Rockies a 7-4 loss at Coors Field on Tuesday night.

Colorado’s batters struggled against Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo. The left-hander improved to 5-0 by striking out 10 Rockies in six innings of work, allowing just two hits and three walks.

“I thought we laid off his soft stuff, down, for the most part,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We got into some full counts, we just didn’t win the battle at the end of the counts.”

Tyler Freeman’s two-out RBI single scored Brenton Doyle for the only run at Luzardo’s expense.

Senzatela settled down and kept Colorado in the game. But for the second consecutive night, the game got out of hand when the bullpen took the baton.

Rookie reliever Ryan Rolison entered in the seventh inning and had his first rough outing since being called up last week.

He yielded a home run to Kyle Schwarber — the second in as many nights for the Phillies slugger — and a single and a walk before singing way to Jimmy Herget, who yielded a pair of RBI singles that padded Philadelphia’s lead to 7-1.

Adael Amador’s RBI single in the seventh whittled a run off that advantage, and in the ninth inning, Colorado came alive, eventually bringing the tying run to the plate. Doyle, Mickey Moniak and Ryan McMahon all reached base, with Moniak and McMahon delivering RBI singles.

But when Phillies reliever Max Lazar got Jordan Beck to fly out harmlessly to right field, any hope of an unlikely comeback evaporated.

That final out capped a flummoxing night for Beck, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Since moving into the leadoff spot, he has a .238/.304/.571 line, so, he’s brought some power to the spot, as Schaeffer noted Monday. But Tuesday was a spot of bother.

Colorado fell to 8-40.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

It was what has become a typical start for Senzatela since his last September. He spent most of the night attempting to dance out of trouble and around baserunners; just one of his six innings was clean.

But after digging a hole early, he limited the damage from that point forward. He allowed seven more hits and a walk after that, but following Castellanos’ sacrifice fly, only one run crossed the plate and he lasted six innings. This was his second six-inning start of the season.

“I thought he battled tonight, all the way through his outing,” Schaeffer said. “… He gave us a chance to win.”

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Beck flew out with the game-tying run — in the form of Ezequiel Tovar — standing in the on-deck circle.

ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: 71 — Strikeouts this season for first baseman Michael Toglia, a tally which leads Major League Baseball. He went 0-for-4 with three Ks Tuesday and has a 50-percent strikeout rate since May 9.

WHAT’S NEXT: Rookie Carson Palmquist, who made his debut last Friday night, makes his second major-league start in the third game of the series. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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