One might be tempted to chalk up the Rockies’ 6-0 loss to the Reds on Monday night to the infamous Coors Field Hangover.
That is, coming off a seven-game homestand at altitude, Rockies hitters struggled to adjust to pitching at hot and humid Great American Ball Park. The gigantic hole in that tired theory is that the Rockies were beaten 10-1 by Kansas City on Sunday at Coors.
Whatever the case, the Rockies were shut out for the 10th time this season and managed just four hits, two of them from first-time All-Star Ryan McMahon.
“We just haven’t been able to score enough when we’ve had games like this,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Cincinnati. “That’s our challenge in the second half (of the season). Hopefully, when KB (Kris Bryant) comes back (from injury), that’ll help. We have some younger guys pressing a little bit.”
The Rockies, 32-59 overall and 12-32 on the road, are on pace to lose 105 games.
Reds lefty Andrew Abbott allowed three hits over seven innings, struck out eight and walked two. He generated 19 swings and misses and had the Rockies on their heels all night.
“He had a live fastball both at the top, and down, when he needed to,” Black said. “He had a little sweeper/slider, the curveball and the change. Four pitches and we couldn’t solve him.”
Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar is mired in the worst slump of his career. He went 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 26 at-bats. His slump includes 11 strikeouts.
Colorado has lost seven consecutive games to the Reds and has dropped 11 of 12 at Great American Ball Park.
Cincinnati turned a close game into a cruiser with a four-run eighth off reliever Tyler Kinley, sending nine hitters to the plate.
Reds right fielder Rece Hinds, making his major league debut, led off with a 449-foot homer into the second deck in left. Speedy shortstop Elly De La Cruz, also a first-time All-Star, doubled home Will Benson and took third when Kinley’s pickoff attempt sailed into center field. Cruz scored on Jeimer Candelario’s comebacker to the mound, sliding under catcher Elias Diaz’s tag.
Candelario came around to score on singles by Tyler Stephenson and Santiago Espinal. Kinley, who had been pitching well of late, gave up all four runs (two earned) in two-thirds of an inning as his ERA rose to 7.78.
Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner pitched a solid game, though one casual moment cost him.
In Cincinnati’s two-run fourth inning, with Candelario perched on third, Diaz made a slightly high throw to the mound. The ball glanced off Feltner’s glove, and Candelario, making a heads-up play, scored easily to give Cincinnati a 2-0 lead. Diaz was charged with the error, but the mistake was Feltner’s.
“That was frustrating,” Black said. “It was a catchable ball that he looked just a touch lackadaisical on. It came back to haunt him.”
De La Cruz had opened the fourth with a single off Feltner and took third on Candelario’s single. Cruz scored on Stephenson’s groundball double play.
Feltner pitched seven innings and gave up just four hits. He struck out six and walked three.
“Feltner threw well, but I think there’s more in there,” Black said. “He had three walks and got behind in the count, but he got some double plays and some strikeouts when he needed to. He did his part.”
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Originally Published: July 8, 2024 at 7:56 p.m.
