Rockies’ early lead doesn’t hold up as they drop road-trip finale in Cincinnati

Rockies Report, Game 32:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: A 2-0 first-inning lead off Tyler Freeman’s first home run of the season didn’t hold up for the Rox, who fell 6-4 to the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon to drop the three-game series while concluding a 4-2 road swing through the Eastern Time Zone.

Put on the coat, Tyler! pic.twitter.com/ddtB1fNItl

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 30, 2026

Freeman eked Andrew Abbott’s four-seam fastball over the right-field fence to give Colorado the early lead, but that was it for the Rockies’ offense until the ninth, by which point Cincinnati had piled up six runs at the expense of Michael Lorenzen and reliever Victor Vodnik, both of whom also had wild pitches in their work Thursday.

Singles by Kyle Karros, Troy Johnston and Mickey Moniak ignited a ninth-inning rally, with Moniak dropping a shallow pop fly to score Karros and narrow the gap. Jake McCarthy added a fourth run via a sacrifice fly, sending Hunter Goodman to the plate as the potential game-tying run.

But one pitch later, hopes of a happy flight died, as Emilio Pagán induced a pop fly to left-center field that Dane Myers easily grabbed, allowing the Reds to end April atop the NL Central for the first time in 20 years.

Colorado fell to 14-18.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

The long ball got the better of Michael Lorenzen on Thursday, as the 2-0 lead he had when he stepped onto the mound evaporated on Nathaniel Lowe’s solo shot in the second inning and TJ Friedl’s two-run blast in the fifth, the blow that put Cincinnati in front to stay.

Lorenzen allowed just four hits over 5 1/3 innings, but half of them were homers during his 85-pitch stint as he fell to 2-3.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Goodman popped out for the final out of the day.

NUMBER TO NOTE: .238 — Jordan Beck’s batting average over his last 21 at-bats since starting the season in a 5-for-41 slump. He went 1-for-3 on Thursday, but was 0-for-6 in Wednesday night’s romp.

WHAT’S NEXT: A six-game homestand against two NL East teams, starting with the first-place Braves. José Quintana will start for the Rockies; Grant Holmes will open the series for Atlanta. The first pitch Friday is set for 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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