The Colorado Rockies dropped the first-half finale 4-2 to the Cincinnati Reds, falling to 22-74 on the year. They had some chances late in the game to claw back, but ultimately had some defensive blunders and went just 1-for-7 with RISP.

Austin Gomber never settled

Gomber started off immediately on the wrong foot, allowing a lead-off home run to TJ Friedl on the fourth pitch of the game, and it set the tone for the rest of his outing. It wasn’t a bad one — 4 1⁄3 innings, three runs (two earned) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts — but it was inconsistent and inefficient.

After the home run, he retired Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz and Austin Hays to end the first. In the second, Spencer Steer popped up to Ryan Ritter but then Noelvi Marte walked, and subsequently stole second after Tyler Stephenson flied out to center. Luckily, he was held after Santiago Espinal flied out to center.

The third inning is where things got weird for Gomber. Connor Joe flied out, but then Friedl walked on five pitches. McLain singled to advance him, and De La Cruz grounded into a force out that advanced Friedl but got McLain out at second. Unfortunately, though, Hays singled to score Friedl and tie the game. Gomber threw 29 pitches in the third.

In the fourth, Gomber struck out Marte but then Stephenson got a wild double.

In the fifth, Gomber gave up back-to-back singles to Friedl and McLain before getting De La Cruz out, but he’d thrown 90 pitches and Warren Schaeffer decided his day was done.

The Third Inning

The third inning was weird and bad for Gomber, but it was also weird and bad for Nick Martinez (but good for the Rockies!). Kyle Farmer and Austin Nola led off with back-to-back singles. Ritter laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, and after Tyler Freeman lined out, Mickey Moniak came up and scored both runners to put the Rockies up.

Defensive Wows and Woes

The unearned run charged to Gomber came off an error by Ritter in the fifth inning, the 81st by the Rockies this season and Ritter’s fourth of his young career (just one day removed from his first MLB home run).

Farmer also committed an error in the seventh, bringing the Rox up to 82 on the year. They also hold the lowest fielding percentage in MLB (.977).

But Michael Toglia made up for it with a few web gems of his own, including this over-the-head basket catch.

Brenton Doyle also made this spectacular diving catch in the eighth:

Up Next

We all have a few days off for the All-Star Break before games resume again on Friday. The Rockies will welcome the Minnesota Twins to Coors Field for a three-game set followed by the St. Louis Cardinals. Kyle Freeland will take the mound on Friday against a starter-to-be-named-later for the Twins.

In the meantime, join Purple Row for our MLB Draft and All-Star Game coverage, as well as a mid-season State of the Position update.