Despite an excellent start on the hill and some highlights from two of their rookies, the Colorado Rockies (22-73) walked away with a 4-3 walk-off loss to the Cincinnati Reds (49-47) in the second game of the weekend series.

Blalock-ed In

If anyone needed a palate cleanser at the big league level, it was Bradley Blalock. Making his first start for the Rockies since the infamous May 10 game, Blalock looked like the pitcher the team saw in spring training.

Things got a little dicey early on when the Reds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back hits by Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz put runners on the corners with one out before De La Cruz swiped second base. Austin Hays, who also needed a cleanser after Friday’s game, hit a sacrifice fly to score McLain. Luckily, Blalock escaped without further damage and settled in.

He ended up going 5 2⁄3 innings, allowing just one run while scattering six hits. He tallied just one strikeout but didn’t walk anyone. He was a strike machine, throwing a first-pitch strike to 14 of the 22 batters he faced. He recorded nine groundouts and induced a couple of key double plays, including one he initiated on a broken bat by De La Cruz. He threw just 80 pitches, a bit higher than perhaps you’d want at that point in the game, but he battled and gave the Rockies an excellent start.

R2-D2

Trailing early on against Brady Singer, the Rockies broke through in the top of the third courtesy of rookie shortstop Ryan Ritter.

Yanquiel Fernández led off the inning with a single (more on him in a second). After Orlando Arcia struck out on a foul tip, the stage was set for Ritter to get something going. On a 2-0 offering from Singer, Ritter turned on an 88.6 mph cutter, sending it 354 feet to left field for his first career home run. It gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the game.

It was Ritter’s only hit of the game, but the Chicago native has continued to grow at the big league level in Ezequiel Tovar’s absence while playing some slick defense at shortstop.

Daddy Yanqui

As was alluded to, Fernández had himself quite the day at the plate. His single in the third was just the first of what became a three-hit performance. He singled again to lead off the top of the fifth inning, moving to third on a single by Arcia. Unfortunately, he was cut down between third base and home on a contact play with Ritter at the plate.

In the seventh inning, he laced an RBI double down the right field line, scoring Brenton Doyle, who had walked prior, giving the Rockies a pivotal run and a 3-1 lead at the time. He had a chance to build on the lead at the top of the ninth with two on and one out, but he struck out. Still, it was the first three-hit game for the big man.

Missed opportunities and a blown save

That missed opportunity in the top of the ninth spelled a trend for the Rockies that ultimately came back to haunt them.

Despite having a lead-off man at third with no outs three times in the game, the Rockies failed to score in each situation. The lineup ended up going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and had 11 strikeouts against just two walks.

It came back to haunt them in the bottom of the ninth when Spencer Steer singled against Victor Vodnik to lead off and came in to score the tying run on a Will Benson triple to make it 3-3. After a walk to Jake Fraley, Noelvi Marte — who had hit a home run in the seventh to make it 3-2 — tapped a ball to second base to score the winning run as Arcia couldn’t field the ball.

Up next

The Rockies round out the first half of the season with Austin Gomber (0-2, 5.92 ERA) taking on Nick Martinez (6-9, 4.85 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. MDT.

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