Rockies collapse in ninth inning, fall to 12-54

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 66:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: There is no doubt the Rockies are a bad baseball team. They didn’t come by their historically abysmal start by accident.

But happenstance doesn’t exactly shine on them, either. And since they have zero margin for error, the capricious fortunes of luck have a way of taking on outsized importance.

Like in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night. A 5-2 lead was down to a one-run cushion after Zach Agnos crumbled in his attempt to close out the San Francisco Giants, struggling for a third consecutive appearances.

But Victor Vodnik and his 100-MPH fastball was one strike away from wiggling the Rox out of the jam.

He fired one more fastball that hit 99.7 MPH on the radar gun to Giants designated hitter Wilmer Flores, who managed weak contact. The ball bounced toward the third-base side. Vodnik dashed over to retrieve it and fired to first base.

But the throw was too late, and the tying run came home from third base.

Meager contact. A weak infield single. There have been plenty of those at Colorado’s expense this season. Many teams can absorb such turns of fortune and shrug them off.

But not this increasingly youthful one that still stares up at every other in Major League Baseball.

Two pitches later, Mike Yastrzemski hit a line drive to right field and put the Giants in front.

That’s how loss No. 54 happened in front of 24,553 at Coors Field, this one by a 6-5 count.

It wiped out so much that went right for the Rox.

Reliever Jake Bird continued to make his case for an All-Star appearance, striking out five consecutive Giants after relieving starter Carson Palmquist to pull the rookie out of a jam, preserve a tie game and set up Kyle Farmer for the solo home run that put the Rockies in front 3-2 in the fifth inning.

Went to the Farmers market, picked up a home run…

…and maybe a vote too ➡️ https://t.co/WDjLr0xoEt pic.twitter.com/tPeclk6agG

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 11, 2025

Seth Halvorsen and Tyler Kinley were flawless in their seventh and eighth innings of work, respectively.

But Agnos — who also struggled Friday night when he entered with a tie game in the ninth inning — allowed a leadoff home run on his first pitch of the ninth inning to Casey Schmitt and never got back on track.

“Command issue tonight from Agnos, on basically all pitches,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He just bascially didn’t get the job done tonight.”

Agnos’ ERA has soared from 1.50 to 4.43 in his last three appearances. He took the loss and dropped to 0-3.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

It wasn’t the first major-league win that Palmquist sought. Nor was it a night that saw him post a clean inning; in fact, he allowed two base runners in four of the five innings he took the mound Tuesday night, and needed Bird’s exquisite work to get him out without further damage.

Damage control was indeed the story of Palmquist’s evening, as he kept the Rox in it. He left seven baserunners on, and still is learning how to find his strikeout touch at this level, but appears more settled with each start.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Thairo Estrada flew out to center field with Sam Hilliard and Hunter Goodman on base in the bottom of th eninth.

ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: .876 — McMahon’s OPS since May 1.

NOTES: Doyle returned to the lineup after receiving a day off Sunday and went x-for-x with a double … Rookie short-term Ryan Ritter notched his second major-league RBI, bringing home Doyle with a two-out, second-inning ground-ball single to center field to tie the score at 1-apiece.

WHAT’S NEXT: After earning his first win of the season last week at Miami, Kyle Freeland looks for win No. 2. The assignment will be difficult, as the Giants counter with Robbie Ray, who brings a 2.44 ERA into Wednesday’s game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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