Rockies drop 10th-straight road game, throttled by Tigers

Rockies Report, Game 149:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: A 1-0 lead didn’t last long Sunday at Comerica Park.

Adael Amador nudged the Rockies in front with a solo homer in the top of the first, but the edge was gone by the bottom of the inning as Detroit pulled away for an 8-1 throttling.

GONE! pic.twitter.com/tKYb6e90Li

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 13, 2026

Detroit’s carnage began with two outs in the first inning, as Colt Keith hit a ground-rule double with the bases loaded. Six pitches later, Riley Greene turned on a curveball and smashed it over the left-field fence for an opposite-field homer to give Detroit a 2-1 lead.

Matters quickly exacerbated. Four of the first five Tigers who strode to the plate in the bottom of the second reached base. John Beck delivered a single to score Max Clark, and one batter later, Kevin McGonigle blasted a triple off the yellow line topping the right-field wall, doubling the Tigers’ advantage.

Starter Gabriel Hughes allowed no further damage in the second inning, but it took 40 pitches for him to get through the frame — after he tossed 30 pitches in the first.

Detroit added three more runs the rest of the way against Colorado’s bullpen, while the Rockies offense did little, never scoring again as the Rox finished the day with five hits and a walk.

The loss was the Rockies’ 10th straight on the road and seventh in succession overall. They’re 4-20 in their last 24 games as they fell to 55-94. They’ll need an 8-5 mark in their final 13 games to avoid becoming the first team with four-consecutive 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 Mets.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Rookie Gabriel Hughes fell to 0-8, punctuated by his continued struggles with runners on base. After allowing three hits in that scenario Sunday — including a homer and a triple — Hughes can be allowing a .938 OPS with any combination of baserunners compared to .621 when the sacks are clear.

In the first inning, Hughes’ four-seam fastball was consistently between 92 and 94 miles per hour. By the time he retired Greene to get out of the second inning, it was down to 90.9 MPH.

“Gabe didn’t have his best stuff today, specifically, his offspeed stuff killed him,” manager Warren Schaeffer said.

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Hughes was rocked in the second inning.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 70 — Pitches by Hughes in the first two innings, the second-most by an MLB starter before the third inning this season. Only Tomoyuki’s 72-pitch opening to the Aug. 23 loss to Cleveland was higher.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Rockies return to Coors Field for their final homestand of the season, which starts Monday night with a visit from San Diego. Sugano will start the series opener, which is set for 6:40 p.m. MDT first pitch.

Related

Rockies bullpen disintegrates in disastrous seven-run eighth inningRockies’ skid reaches five games as 1-0 lead evaporates in middle inningsRockies felled by second Yankees grand slam in as many nights as they absorb sweepRockies lose 90th of the season as Bronx Bombers live up to their nameRockies felled by early defensive mishap, late Yankees burstRockies become first team mathematically eliminated from postseason, fall to Cardinals