Rockies drop series against Mariners, 1 defeat from 100 losses

Close ballgames continue to plague the Rockies.

Colorado lost 2-1 to Seattle on Sunday to lose their three-game series at Coors Field after dropping a 5-4 game in Friday’s series opener. The Rockies are now 17-25 in one-run games this year, 12-22 in two-run games and a combined 39-47 in games decided by two or one run.

So the next obvious step in the rebuild — minus the most obvious task, which is to find more quality starters to bolster an obviously thin rotation — is to start winning the tight ones.

On Sunday, Colorado got strong pitching from Tomoyuki Sugano (five innings, one run) and Ryan Feltner in long relief (three innings, one run) before Jimmy Herget threw a scoreless ninth. But that wasn’t enough as the Mariners staved off elimination in the American League West behind seven shutout innings by Kade Anderson. The Rockies’ lone run came from Hunter Goodman’s 39th homer in the ninth.

Colorado’s four-run seventh, highlighted by Cole Carrigg’s two-run single, sparked their 5-3 win on Saturday as the Rockies got a win on the day when the franchise unveiled the Todd Helton statue outside the stadium at 20th and Blake. In the series opener on Friday, Lázaro Montes’ solo homer off Jordan Romano in the ninth was the difference in Seattle’s win.

The Rockies are now 7-25 over their last 32 games since Aug. 17, with only one series win in that span. On Sunday, the Rockies were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six men on base. Colorado simply hasn’t hit well in the clutch. Entering Sunday, the Rockies ranked 27th in average with runners in scoring position since Aug. 17 (.228) and 23rd in RBIs with RISP (85).

Sunday’s loss dropped Colorado to 6-15 in rubber games this season. The Rockies now must go 6-0 over the final two series to avoid their fourth-straight 100-plus loss season. One more loss would make them the fifth MLB franchise with four straight seasons of 100 losses or more, joining the 1909-12 Boston Doves/Braves, 1938-42 Philadelphia Phillies (five in a row), 1961-64 Washington Senators and 1962-65 New York Mets.

Colorado’s final homestand resumes with the start of a three-game series on Tuesday against Arizona, followed by three games on the road against the White Sox next weekend. The Diamondbacks are 4.5 games back of the third NL wild card spot; Chicago currently sits in the third AL wild card spot and is 1.5 games back of the Guardians in the AL Central.

Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.