Rockies blasted by long ball; go 0-for-the-season against Mets

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 65:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Some of the Mets’ bombs may still be flying through the skies above LoDo.

New York’s sluggers launched six home runs beyond the Coors Field fences Sunday, capping a two-day, nine-homer barrage that left the Rockies as so much flotsam and jetsam in absorbing a 13-5 defeat in front of 40,548 onlookers.

The defeat sealed the Rockies’ 11th sweep of the season and dropped them to 12-53.

New York’s six home runs were the second-most by a visiting team at Coors Field, trailing only the seven mashed by the San Francisco Giants here on July 2, 2002 in an 18-5 thumping.

The Mets became the first visiting team in nearly six years — since the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 27, 2019 — to hit six home at Coors Field.

Starter Chase Dollander gave up a pair of home runs before interim manager Warren Schaeffer relieved him after three innings and 78 pitches.

Of the Rockies’ five relievers who worked Sunday — Juan Mejia, Victor Vodnik, Seth Halvorsen, Tyler Kinley and Zach Agnos — four yielded home runs; only Vodnik emerged unscathed.

The Rockies’ bullpen, which came into the series on a tear, yielded a 7.88 ERA in three games against the Mets — not including the work of Antonio Senzatela, who pitched four innings Friday after Ryan Rolison served as his opener.

Meanwhile,
Colorado didn’t have a hit through four innings before Sam Hilliard finally reached base with a double to right field to lead of the fifth inning. He came home two batters later when rookie Braxton Fulford singled to right field.

Jordan Beck added a pair of RBI on a 2-for-5 day. Ryan McMahon went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Hilliard, who filled in at center field for the struggling Brenton Doyle, went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Doyle received a day off after dropping below the Mendoza Line by going 0-for-4 on Saturday.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

The bugaboo of Dollander’s first major-league starts bit him hard Sunday — the big blast.

Dollander has made palpable progress in keeping the ball in the park over the course of his starts this year. His HR/9 rate — a concern during his spring-training work — was 4.91 during his first three starts.

He didn’t allow a home run in his next three starts — which included his dominant performance against Atlanta but has since yielded four in his last four, with a HR/9 rate of 2.16 in that span.

The two home runs helped put him and the Rockies in a 5-0 hole and led to another three-inning start — his second in two outings since returning from the injured list last week.

“Just not really doing my job right now. I want to be the guy that gives the bullpen a break every time I go out there, so, it’s a little frustrating when I don’t,” Dollander said.

After a solid first inning that saw him strike out Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor — freezing Lindor with a curveball that caught the black on the outside for a called third strike — Dollander allowed his third home run in his last four starts to lead off the second frame.

Jeff McNeil clobbered a 3-2 fastball 411 feet into the home-team bullpen, and that opened the floodgates.

The next two Mets reached base, as Ronny Mauricio singled to right field and Tyrone Taylor walked on five pitches.

Dollander retired Brett Baty on a fly ball and then induced a lazy fly ball from Francisco Alvarez, but it hung in the breeze blowing from center field and dropped a few feet in front of Hilliard for an RBI single for the second run of the inning.

That was the extent of the second-inning damage, but he needed 38 pitches to get out of the inning.

Dollander opened the third by walking Juan Soto and surrendering home run No. 2 to Alonso, and the rout was on.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: McNeil dropped his second home run of the afternoon into the second level of the right-field stands, a three-run shot off Mejia in the fourth inning that put New York in front 8-0.

ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: 9 — Home runs allowed in the last two games for the Rox, the most in a two-game span for the club since Aug. 23-24, 2020.

NOTES: Orlando Arcia worked at first base, making his first career start there … Tyler Freeman went 2-for-3 and pushed his average to .306.

WHAT’S NEXT: Thanks to a reshuffled rotation, Carson Palmquist is now scheduled to start Tuesday night when a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants begins. First pitch at Coors Field is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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