Another late collapse for the Colorado Rockies sends the Seattle Mariners to the playoffs

Another late collapse for the Colorado Rockies sends the Seattle Mariners to the playoffs

Today on Locked on Rockies, you got to execute. It’s the little things. It’s getting every out. It’s performing at every opportunity. The Rockies should not have lost that opener to the Mariners. But as we’ve seen time and time again in 2025, the Rockies collapse late and hand it away. [Music] You are Locked on Rockies, your daily Colorado Rockies podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Rock on Rockies fans. Welcome into the Locked On Rockies podcast for today, the 24th day of September in the year 2025. I’m your host of the Lockdown Rockies podcast. Paul Holden bringing you your daily Colorado Rockies talk right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network where you can find your team every day. And if your team is the Colorado Rockies, guess what? You’re in the right spot. Free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and on the Locked on Rockies YouTube channel where you can be part of the show. You can fire off your Rockies hot takes. You can let me know what’s on your mind when it comes to the Colorado Rockies. And today we’re going to talk about the Rockies blowing a late lead here and dropping a game to the Mariners that flat out have no business dropping. It’s unacceptable. I I mean I mean this is a loss where a team that had a lot to play for, a lot of fight, a lot of a lot of stuff left in the tank, a lot of energy, a lot of passion took you down in a game where you had no business doing you an opportunity for one of your more impressive wins of the season. and instead you can’t get out of your own way yet again and the Rockies hand the game over. We’re going to go through some of the numbers and it’s not going to be pretty and and and and it’s extra frustrating, you know, being there in person and it’s just like, wow, this team, hey, look at this. Look at what they’re doing, you know, being chirping a little bit, having some fun and all that stuff. And then for it to just play out in classic Rockies fashion at the end of a ball game on the backdrop of watching a team I mean and the energy, the pulse, everything in that stadium. You you you can’t sit there and be nothing but jealous as a Rockies fan. And I’ I’ve used the word jealousy a lot this year and it won’t be the last time I used the word jealousy because I was jealous tonight. Before we go any further, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Rocky struck out 16 batters tonight, guys. They only gave up three hits. Three hits and they lose four to three. out hitting the Mariners 7 to3 and and and getting a a phenomenal an absolutely incredible start from McC Brown. Five innings worth of work. Two hits, one earned run, two walks, 10 strikeouts. But this team can’t stop walking. People can’t stop avoiding things. Can’t stop getting in their own way. Juan Maya. I mean, we’re talking two strike hit by pitches. We’re talking crucial walks. We’re That’s you got to execute. Mia and Vodnik did not execute. I know Vodnik doesn’t get the inherited runs, but he gave up the hit. That’s That’s the difference right there. it. That’s the difference between a team with high aspirations, a team with playoff hopes going up against a team that is the Colorado Rockies. That’s a that’s a dis I mean, in a in a in a sea in a wave of disappointing losses, this one will rank up at the top. You didn’t have any business losing this game. You gave it away. This game, this game was given away. multi-run lead held the Mariners one for five with runners in scoring position outside of of course Naylor’s uh bases clearing double and instead of making Seattle wait one more day instead of of of raising the eyebrows a little bit instead of instead of throwing one more punch the Rockies are instead the punch line again and these are all growth and learning moments and and and things like that. And and and we saw some some some good performances here as uh you know, Tovar brings in some runs there with a with with the with the single there and and Keros picks up a couple of hits and and Beck picks up an extra base hit there. And this is a game you should have won. This was a game that you had that that that you had folks scratching their heads wondering what’s going on. Scratching their heads wondering what’s what’s the deal here. This is a I mean Randy Roserena struck out three times. You held Cal Raleigh hitless. You you gave Au Heno Suarez the golden sombrero. Every single member of the Mariners lineup had a strikeout except for Naylor who went two for four with the three ribbies. It’s it’s execution. It’s high leverage moments. The Rockies have consistently fallen flat in high leverage moments this year and it’s young guys certainly and it’s growing pains and and and and we and we have to accept that. But just talk about just another situation here where you’d be feeling a lot better about the Rockies. You’d be feeling a lot better about this season. You you’d be feeling a lot better about where they’re at is if they were able to execute in these close games, in these close situations. And instead it it’s not like it was hits. It’s not like it it’s not like it was that it was the worst thing possible you could do. It’s hitting batters. It’s free passes and then boom, it’s all over and then going out with a whimper. It’s it I mean again it’s not like this is something that’s that that that meant a ton for the Rockies. It’s not like game and the the the stakes were very high for them, but this this was your opportunity again to to to to show something here and you were. But then when the moment called for it to be when when the moment called for clutch, when the moment called for the Rockies to be the team to execute, do those little things, get the job done, weren’t able to do it. And now a 10 strikeout day from a young rookie who’s had a tough start to the year that that that goes up against a a a good lineup and a good lineup especially at home dominates them washed away. Irrelevant because you can’t get the job done. Doesn’t matter if they got the starter got 10 strikeouts. There’s plenty more outs to get after that. Plenty more ball game left. And the Rockies were look I mean 16 strikeouts man three hits the offense a seven hits got three runs across certainly where some things get better. You know you’re they’re facing an uphill challenge. They they they gave you the lead. They gave you the opportunity and then you just fall flat. It’s a growth moment. It’s a learning moment. You you you hopefully go on from there and and and you hopefully have some guys bounce back. But again, I think one of the these types of games, these types of situations, it’s kind of more of a reminder of what the ceiling really is for the Rockies. I I I just It’s a weird thing. It it it’s not really a weird thing. It’s tough because it’s just man that there’s just been so many times that we’ve said this season this this this should be an opportunity to this this this is a winning opportunity. This is the moment to to to sub submit and and and and perform and execute and they weren’t able to get the job done. If this was a team on the on a playoff birth, if this was a team in the hunt and they just had a game where they had 16 strikeouts, held the opposition to three hits and they lost. That’s a problem, man. It’s a huge problem. And I I understand the difference in talent here. I understand the Mariners had a lot to play for. I get that. But when we’re talking about using these games, using these moments, using these opportunities to impress, there were impressive performances, there were impressive moments, but the you need to put the complete package together. And that and and the the way that game ended soured it soured a wonderful moment for Made Brown. 10 strikeouts from the young guy, man. Over five with with only with only two hits, over five. And we’re talking about a guy that hadn’t had five strikeouts in his last five starts. Talking about a guy that’s that that has been going through it in his start, gave his team an incredible chance to win. And the Rockies can’t cash and they and they and they lose in an incredibly frustrating thing. a frustrating way. Frustrating thing, frustrating way, but that’s baseball. Got to play all n all all of the outs. Got to play all nine innings. All right, let’s shift focus here and let’s just talk about as as I bring up the term jealousy. As I bring up As I bring that up, man, what an energy there. There there is nothing like the energy of postseason baseball. Postseason anything really, but postseason baseball. Let’s talk about that coming up next on today’s episode of Locked On Rockies. Before we do that though, got to tell you about the folks that help make this show possible, and that includes Game Time. Game time’s got you covered here when you need yourself some tickets. And I’ve used Game Time a lot. Game time is actually one of my favorite ways to navigate the secondary market. And there’s nothing like catching a baseball game live. Running out of opportunities here. If you’re a road Rockies fan, the energy, the crowd, the chances to see your team in person, but actually getting tickets, that’s the tough part. Cues, login screen, surprise fees takes all the fun out of it. 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Free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and on the Locked on Rocky’s YouTube channel. Be part of the show. Fire off your Rockies hot takes. Let me know what’s on your mind as this Rockies season comes to a close. And uh I just wanted to, you know, we of course we talked about the disappointment of this game here and and and I like, you know, one thing I like to see I I’d like to again I don’t love Jordan Beck as a four-hole hitter, but I love that he continues to kind of bring a presence there, be a factor in that. Still dealing with some strikeouts. Rocky striking out 10 times as a team here. Not too surprising again when you’re looking at the matchup here uh the matchups and uh the the bullpen for the Mariners. Even though that the Mariners have had it been it’s it’s more been one of their weaker spots. Mariners are still very good at striking people out. And u so again not too surprised to see 10 strikeouts there. The Rockies go two for six with runners in scoring position as well. Hey, anytime that Tovar can can contribute, anytime that Tovar can can add something here for throughout the rest of this season is also good to see, too, because I think this is going to be one of those seasons, not only with the record and everything, but a very frustrating one. And and it’s going to be interesting to see how he adapts to adjusting going through the offseason and what’s next for the club, uh, you know, throughout the offseason and what they look like and and how they prepare going forward as well. One thing I wanted to mention, man, it was so cool being in playoff atmosphere, playoff baseball atmosphere, man. And and again, I’m I’m I’m a transplant to the city of Seattle here. I’m I am uh you know, I I’ve been just, you know, associated just through through through stuff that I do with and following the Mariners and stuff. I don’t have any long-standing connection here, but man, this it it it’s it’s not the same as Rocktober because of of the run and and obviously and and since I’ve lived here with the Mariners making that first run that kind of had more of the Rocktober vibe, I think to it, but it’s just it playoff baseball energy is different. I watched the last three, you know, two innings of the game standing up the I mean the the amount of just when when when when Naylor clears the bases, when the bases get loaded, when when things start building, when everything matter, when when Kenzone hits the home run as well, and you just I mean, it’s it’s this place. People are locked in completely for Rocky’s Mariners here. They’re not missing a pitch. They’re not missing a moment. The the concourse is packed. Everything’s packed. I mean, I everyone is focused and and and talking about and thinking about and watching the Mariners and it’s so freaking cool and and and because when it’s not the norm for you, especially for some of the, you know, teams like the Mariners, teams teams like the Rockies, when it’s not the norm for you, and then when it’s kind of like the when you’re having the season the Mariners are having, when you have the trade deadline the Mariners are having. When you hear some of the hype around the Mariners, when you hear some of the, you know, when when when these things start bubbling and brewing, it’s hard not to just get caught up in it. It’s infectious. And that place, I mean, when when when things started happening, when I mean, even when there were moments, even when there were high-fly balls, when anytime Cal Raleigh stepped to the plate in this one, the energy is just off the charts and it’s just like, I want this so badly for my own team because I know Seattle’s showing out. Seattle loves the Mariners. That’s something I’ve learned. But what we’ve seen in the moments of Rocky’s greatness, the the limited things, man, when that when when people are locked in, when the Rockies are good, man, oh my goodness, there there there is no energy like it. And all the other teams can say this, all the other teams can can can bring this up and and and there is nothing like playoff baseball. 162 games, months and months. I mean, we’re talking about this, you know, hypes and things starting for these season this season. Talking February, a, you know, March, April, you know, we’re talking about spring training, the, you know, the vast majority of the year of what it takes to get to this point, to get to the to get to here for the Mariner fan. That’s what that’s what makes it different than anything else in sports. What makes Rocktober so special is not only the the the the improbable run through the postseason, but it’s you can I know you can teleport yourself back to that into the moments into the highlights where you were, the people you were around, and how you felt in your gut as a Rockies fan. And and and I I I’m I’m h I got to have some bu I got some buddies. I got some diehard Mariners buddies. We had some great seats and and it was just I mean it’s just awesome to be a part of to be there in person to see them get the shirts to to see how the and and I know I’m just talking about this as as as a as hey aren’t you supposed to be and and and I guess let me let me take it full circle to the Rocky side of it. That’s why I’m jealous. That’s why it sucks. That’s why it’s so difficult to be a Rocky’s fan right now. And Mariners fans have asked that, you know, said the same thing, been in this a similar situation, but I it’s still this team is so far away from achieving that. This team is so far away from being even close to that conversation. And when they eventually get there, because you know, time passes, things happen, you never know. You got to soak it all up because I mean with just how rare it can be. Rockies have never won the National League West. Mariners haven’t won the AL West in 24 years. That is almost all of my life. You can’t take any moment for granted and and and and being around now for the Mariners snapping the curse and and now this season as well. They don’t they stayed late. They stayed to celebrate the team and it’s just gosh, I can’t wait for that to happen again at Kors. I I I can’t wait for Kors to be a place that’s packed with Rocky. Passionate, loud Rocky’s fans cheering on their guys in moments where they steal a game late that they have no business doing to clinch a playoff spot. Mariners had no business winning that game tonight. None. On paper, they were the weaker team tonight. But there’s something different. There’s something special. There’s something important about the postseason, about this time of year, just changes everything. And you know, these type of games could happen in June, July, and April, obviously. But for it to be like that, for to capture that magic, to know the situation, I mean, you could tell that everyone in that ballpark was waiting to just go nuts and the Rockies gave them their moment. The Rockies are not good enough to beat these good teams and good teams have taken advantage of them time and time again this year. And it’s going to be a long time until the Rockies are ones getting t-shirts on September 23rd, celebrating clinching a postseason birth and having their shot at the title. It’ll happen one day. It’ll be special. But that game was just being there in person. It’s just a reminder. Nothing quite like the playoffs when it comes to baseball. got to tell you about the folks that help make this show possible. And that includes FanDuel. 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And remember, if that first $5 bet wins, you’re going to get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app, player props, parlays, all the action waiting for you at FanDuel.com. Go check it out and make sure you don’t miss out on that introductory $5 bonus bonus bet opportunity. Check it out, fanduel.com. All right, we are going to put a bow on this episode here of Locked on Rockies. Thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. We’re free and streaming on your favorite streaming services and the Locked on Rocky’s YouTube channel. The Rockies look to avoid losing this uh the second to last series of the season to the Mariners who are looking to get this win. And let’s see here on the finals if they lost. And they did. The Athletics beat the Astros. The Mariners. Luis Castillo on the bump. A shot to claim the national I’m sorry, the American League West on the line for the Mariners. Luis Castillo taking on exciting young Rocky’s arm. And who’s who’s pitched well for the Rockies? Tanner Gordon here in the finale. Castillo is 10 and eight this year with a 3.63 63 RA a whip of 1.23 over 173 innings pitched allowed 167 hits struck out 152 guys walking 46 with 22 homers as well. So, we’ll see if that plays a factor for that as the Redhot Mariners now have won five in a row and have also uh now oh my goodness here. The Rockies, not the Rockies, the Mariners have lost one game since September 6th. One game. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 and 1 over their last 16 games. Holy smokes. Uh Rockies can play spoiler though and uh as uh you know they they are it’s just the young guys in this uh in the start here as we had uh Brown now Gordon and Bllelock all getting the uh the the starts here for the Rockies. Um and uh we’ll see how it all pans out. Projections on ESPN right now not favoring the old Rockos. Pardon me. Um, before we close out here, and this is something that we’ll dive into more in the offseason, but of course this was a big big news breaker, the ABS, the automated balls and strike, the automated balls and strike system coming to Major League Baseball next year. Another one of those changes I’m I’m a fan of. I I don’t know. I I I I come from a weird being my age, being being in my kind of bracket. You you there’s a lot of connection and a lot of people I know from the old eras, the old ways of baseball, and I know a lot of people in the new eras of baseball. I I I just think that this is a system that’s that helps make things get right. And and I can I understand not like you know eliminating that human element, eliminating that that aspect of the game. Again, furthering ro the baseball from its traditional core what it is. You know, I I I I understand the hesitation. I understand the issues there. But it really stinks when an umpire misses a call and you just throw your hands up and say, “Well, nothing we can do about it.” Even though we have technology, we have the ability to look at these things and it’s going to be controversial, right? I mean I mean there’s no way around it. We we we know it’s not going to be a perfect system. There is no perfect replay system. And it will be interesting to see how this impacts pace of play and stuff like that. But again, I I don’t think that there there wasn’t necessarily a big uproar in spring training about, man, this is really dragging things down. man, this is really doing this. And th this is something that if you do it quick, if you do it efficiently, it helps because again, it’s a weird thing. It’s a weird line where you’re like, “Okay, we we’ve just left it up to what really is a subjective opinion from the umpire. I mean, he’s a human being. It’s it’s it’s he’s reacting to crazy fast pitches and and and and and framing from the catcher. There’s a million things going on here. So why not give them the tool to better make to make the better judgment. Why why not give the tool to make the umpire better? And it’s not to to to take away from them. It’s not to to to just eliminate them or anything. It’s just okay. We can kind of see these things. But now again, the the strike zone box and and and and what that looks like and adjusting it for different players and all that stuff. I mean there there is there is a lot of nuance here but I I I I think these things continue to make this a modern version of baseball. It is not the old school version of baseball. Baseball is not the same game that was played back in the day. And if you’re a hyper nostalgic only follow into the nostalgia baseball is all about the ‘9s and the steroid era and all that stuff and you got to have all that stuff. You’re not going to like these changes. But this the these are situations that could help the Rockies. The these are tools, these are opportunities that that that could prevent some of these big nasty rallies that we’ve seen from Rocky’s pitchers when they’re not able to, you know, when they get squeezed a little bit there. Umpires are have a very difficult job, a thankless job, one that I would never want to do in a million years. This is this is a system that’s that that should help them because calling an accurate ball and strike as watching that ball and following all that that’s really freaking hard to do. But it’ll be interesting to see how they navigate the controver it’ll be interesting to see how they can make it so that this is more normalized and the usual thing. But I don’t think it took baseball fans all that long to adjust to the pitch clock, the bigger bases. And I I will say I think the the thorn in the side of the new baseball rules continues to be the extra innings rule. That one’s always been an interesting one. I I mean I I guess I get it, but it’s also kind of like that one is pretty little league. But this this is a step in a direction that people are going to hate. The old school the traditionalists are going to hate. But I think that this is a this is a step in the right direction because balls and strike close borderline calls need to be correct and if you got a favorable zone or an umpire that’s that that that’s inconsistent, it’s a big variable to introduce to your game. All right, folks. We’ll see how the Rockies handle it back in action. I’ll be back in person uh for uh for this game here as well. also will be rocking and rolling, seeing what happens there at uh the old T-Mobile Park, seeing how what goes on between the Rockies and the Mariners. Uh but folks, until next time, that’s going to do it for us here at the Locked On Rockies podcast. You can check Locked on MLB and Locked on MLB game night for all your coverage around the league. And if you need more Colorado sports coverage, locked on Broncos, Avalanche, Nuggets, and Buffs, all free and streaming on your favorite streaming services. Until next time, I’m Paul Holden saying so long from the Locked On Rockies podcast.

The Rockies pitching staff racked up 16 strikeouts in the series opener against the Mariners, but costly walks late in the game set the stage for a dramatic finish that sent the Mariners into the postseason.

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