Rockies stand alone as worst team in modern era after 50 games

Rockies Report, Game 50:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: No major-league team in the modern era has ever been worse after 50 games than the 2025 Colorado Rockies.

They sealed that distinction Thursday, separating themselves from the 1904 Washington Senators by absorbing their eighth shutout loss of the season, a 2-0 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was the eighth sweep at Colorado’s expense so far this season and dropped the club’s record under interim manager Warren Schaeffer to 1-9.

Two familiar bugaboos — poor form with runners and scoring position and defense — let Colorado down. The Rockies went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and committed two errors.

The first error led to the only run Philadelphia needed.

Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar bobbled a grounder from Bryson Stott to lead off the fourth inning, causing a late throw that the Philadelphia second baseman beat.

It proved damaging, as Bryce Harper subsequently lined an opposite-field double to left field, scoring Stott.

Error No. 2 came in the ninth inning when catcher Jacob Stallings threw wide of second baseman Aaron Schunk as he attempted to throw Johan Rojas out on an attempted steal.

That pushed the Rockies’ season-long error total to 45.

The error for Tovar was his fifth in just 22 games this season, a confounding start for the reigning Gold Glover, who had just eight errors in 157 games last year.

But Tovar also remains hot at the plate, going 2-for-3 to increase his average to .500 since his return from the injured list.

Still, that wasn’t enough to prevent the Rox from plummeting further; they now stand at 8-42.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

This was the kind of day Germán Márquez needed, as he followed a seven-inning quality start in a May 11 win over the San Diego Padres — the day Bud Black was fired — with another seven-inning appearance that was even better Thursday.

Holding the Phillies to four hits and two walks, Márquez allowed the Phillies just two runs — only one of which was earned, as the Colorado defense once again leaked with an error.

But a big play from Jordan Beck also took away a potential run, as he ran down and made a leaping grab of a Nick Castellanos line drive to the wall in the second inning, launching a rare 7-to-6-to-3 double play, as Kyle Schwarber had already rounded second after taking off from first base on seeing the flight of the ball.

Márquez struck out five over seven innings and worked efficiently, requiring just 79 pitches to get through his seven innings.

He officially took the loss to fall to 1-7, but he deserved a far better fate.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Colorado went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.

ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: 6 — Number of years since ANY major-league team had as many errors through 50 games as the Rockies.

NOTES: Michael Toglia was not in the lineup for a second consecutive day … The bottom four spots in Colorado’s lineup went 0-for-15 with a walk … Jake Bird delivered a scoreless inning with two strikeouts; as Ryan Spilborghs pointed out on the account at the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, he now leads MLB relievers in strikeouts with 37.

WHAT’S NEXT: Tanner Gordon will start in place of the injured Chase Dollander as the New York Yankees arrive for a weekend series. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is expected to throw the ceremonial first pitch. The actual first pitch will be at 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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