Rockies’ late rally falls short in 8-5 loss to Brewers

MILWAUKEE — Rockies Report, Game 106:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Say this for the Rockies: They do not ever quit.

Their penchant for late-game surges continued Saturday night in Milwaukee, as they clawed back from an 8-2 deficit entering the ninth inning and ultimately brought the tying run to the plate, also forcing the Brewers to use closer Trevor Megill after reliever Lance McCullers Jr. struggled to finish off the Rox. But rookie Cole Carrigg struck out, ending the threat and allowing the NL Central-pacing Brewers to escape with an 8-5 win in front of 34,328 at American Family Field on Saturday night.

The stirrings began with two outs in the eighth inning, when Kyle Karros and Carrigg worked two-out walks. That rally ended when Hunter Goodman lost a nine-pitch battle with McCullers by popping out.

But in the ninth, the Rockies’ patience paid off. TJ Rumfield and Ezequiel Tovar worked walks out of 3-2 counts. In between, Brett Sullivan reached on a fielding error, leaving the Rockies with the bases loaded and two outs.

Then Jake McCarthy burnished his trade-deadline value with a 2-RBI single. That chased McCullers, forcing the Brewers to use closer Trevor Megill, but Karros kept the line moving with an RBI single to right field.

The last two innings were a marked contrast to much of the night, as the Rockies struggled to get much hard contact against Milwaukee left-hander Robert Gasser. Colorado mustered just five hits in six innings against him, but stacked three of them together in succession to open the fourth inning: a Kyle Karros double, a Carrigg single and Hunter Goodman’s 2-RBI single to shallow left center that tied the score.

Goody puts us on the board 💥 pic.twitter.com/vNfr3CeWjE

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 26, 2026

A Cooper Pratt RBI single in the fourth quickly broke the deadlock, and in the sixth, Milwaukee’s first four batters reached base at the expense of starter Ryan Feltner and reliever Juan Mejia. All came home, with the final run scoring on a Braxton Fulford throwing error.

In the end, those runs — along with an eighth Milwaukee run via a sacrifice fly — proved crucial.

Colorado fell to 42-64.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Ryan Feltner found himself in trouble for most of his five-plus innings of work Saturday, and his frustrations began right from the outset, with a pair of first-inning singles — the latter of which was on a Brice Turang bunt — erased by a 1-4-3 double play. Feltner later took care of Christian Yelich after a fifth-inning leadoff double, as he and Karros caught him stealing at third base.

But Feltner wasn’t able to wiggle out of all of the jams. A leadoff walk to Jake Bauers in the second inning came back to haunt him; Bauers subsequently swiped second, and Luis Lara drove him home with a sacrifice fly two batters later. Three fourth-inning singles led to another run; in between, with two outs in the second, Milwaukee’s Cooper Pratt launched an elevated four-seamer 409 feet and over the Milwaukee bullpen for a solo homer that put the Brewers in front, 2-0.

Schaeffer relieved Feltner after two singles to open the sixth inning, concluding his night at 82 pitches. Mejia couldn’t pick up Feltner; both runners scored, leaving Feltner with five earned runs allowed on nine hits and a walk. Mejia allowed a walk and a double before finally recording an out; two runs scored at his expense, but one was unearned.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Carrigg struck out for the 27th and final out.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 9.68 — Feltner’s ERA in four July starts. It was 4.00 in June.

WHAT’S NEXT: A stern task on Sunday, as the the Rox will face Jacob Misiorowski for the second time this season. When they saw him last month in Denver, he hit 100 MPH 52 times. Kyle Freeland will get the ball for the Rox. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. MDT.

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