Rockies fritter away lead in ninth, drop seventh consecutive series

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 50:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: All the small things in the ninth inning added up to a big downer for the Rockies, as they let a chance for their first series win of May slip away in a 5-4 defeat to the Texas Rangers on a rainy Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field.

It started with a catcher’s interference ruling when Joc Pederson’s swing caught the mitt of Brett Sullivan. Two ground-ball singles followed: one that found the hole in the right side of the infield, and another that shortstop Ezequiel Tovar managed to field and keep in the infield, but couldn’t allow him to pivot for a threw.

Then, after Warren Schaeffer relieved Brennan Bernardino with Juan Mejia, Sullivan let a pitch slip out of his mitt and to the backstop, allowing Pederson to score from third with the tying run. Josh Jung singled later in the at-bat, and the game officially got away on getaway day, as the Rockies subsequently down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

“We’re in the process of learning how to win,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “We had exactly what we wanted there in the ninth inning. It was just unfortunate. It didn’t work out.”

Bernardino had entered in the ninth after Antonio Senzatela worked the seventh and eighth innings, allowing a pair of hits but nothing else. He threw 21 pitches Wednesday and has gone at least 31 pitches in six of his 14 appearances this season.

The Rockies had battled back from a 3-1 deficit, narrowing the gap in the fourth when Kyle Karros successfully challenged a called third strike on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, then taking the lead on RBI singles from Tyler Freeman and Troy Johnston that followed Jake McCarthy’s leadoff triple.

It's a team game 👏 pic.twitter.com/Gl3UXIoMk4

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 20, 2026

The Rockies’ offense went silent after the fifth. Just one Colorado batter reached base in four innings against the Texas bullpen, and the inability to add insurance runs proved to be part of the Rockies’ undoing.

Colorado fell to 19-31, which puts the Rox on a 62-100 pace at the 50-game mark. They’re 5-13 in May after notching a 13-14 mark in April.

ROCKIES STARTER’S REPORT

Freeland was looking for the game that would get him back on track after yielding at least 6 earned runs in each of his previous three starts. Through three innings, it looked as though he would get it, allowing two hits — one of which he erased by getting Jake Burger to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

But in the fourth inning, his day went askew. After allowing a single to Jung, Freeland’s sweeper — which he described as “very bad” to Ezequiel Duran landed in the center of the strike zone, and Duran pounced, launching it 373 feet over the left-field fence to put the Rangers in front, 2-1. Three pitches later, Jake Burger went deep again off Freeland’s changeup.

Those were the only runs Freeland surrendered. He left the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth inning, but Jaden Hill doused the flames by eliciting a groundout from Duran.

After allowing at least six earned runs in three consecutive starts heading into Wednesday, this was progress.

“Better overall definitely, was able to set the tone well in those first few innings and throw up some zeroes,” Freeland said in the clubhouse after the game. “Scuffling a little bit throwing a lot of pitches, not as crisp as I wanted to be, definitely working towards better feels, and overall a better performance out of me today, and keep building off of that.”

BITS AND PIECES

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Jake McCarthy hit a grounder to second base for the 27th out of the game.

NUMBER TO NOTE: 1.000 — McCarthy’s OPS in day games this season, compared with .702 in night games. He led off Thursday and went 2-for-5. Schaeffer indicated that McCarthy would get more leadoff opportunities.

WHAT’S NEXT: The start of an NL West road trip, beginning with four games at Arizona. The Rockies will face Eduardo Rodriguez, who they defeated on Saturday. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m. MDT.

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