yahoo
In a high-scoring affair at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies squandered a two-run lead in the late innings, falling 9-7 to the Tampa Bay Rays in 11 innings on Tuesday night. The defeat was marked by a blown save from closer Jordan Romano and a shaky MLB debut from Nick Frasso, who took the loss.
The Rockies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jake McCarthy singled, advanced to third on a Cole Carrigg single, and scored on a Mickey Moniak double play. The Rays, who had been held hitless until the third, capitalized on Rockies starter Gabriel Hughes's control issues. A single by Cedric Mullins, a walk to Richie Palacios, and a bunt single from Taylor Walls loaded the bases with no outs. After striking out Yandy Diaz, Hughes walked Jonathan Aranda to force in a run, and then gave up a grand slam to catcher Liam Hicks—his first career home run—giving Tampa Bay a 5-1 lead.
Colorado responded in the bottom of the third. Jordan Beck tripled and scored on a 10-pitch at-bat single by Ezequiel Tovar. McCarthy singled, and Moniak launched a three-run homer, his 19th of the year, tying the game at 5-5. The Rockies took the lead in the fourth when Kyle Karros walked and Willi Castro homered, his 13th of the season, making it 7-5.
Hughes settled down after the rough third, finishing with 5.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on four hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts. The bullpen held the Rays in check until the eighth, when Romano entered and immediately ran into trouble. He struck out Ben Williamson but then walked Walls, who stole second, and gave up a single to Diaz. Aranda tied the game with a single, and after an intentional walk to Hicks, a groundout ended the inning, but the damage was done.
Both teams had chances in extra innings. In the 10th, Jimmy Herget pitched a scoreless frame for the Rockies, but the offense failed to capitalize with a ghost runner. In the 11th, Frasso's wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run to score, and a Caminero single added an insurance run. The Rockies' final threat fizzled as Karros, Castro, and Johnston struck out against Rays closer Bryan Baker.
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer praised the effort despite the loss, saying, "It was a great baseball battle back-and-forth." He also noted Hughes's resilience: "Just one rough inning with a couple of walks mixed in there. I thought Gabe gave us a chance to win."
Key Analysis
The Rockies' offense showed persistence, but the late-inning bullpen collapse proved costly. Romano's blown save was his first since joining the team, and the loss overshadowed a strong performance from Herget. The team will look to avoid a sweep in Wednesday's series finale, with Nick Martinez taking the mound against Tomoyuki Sugano.
Originally reported by yahoo.