Twins 6, Rockies 3: failure to capitalize

The Rockies bats roared to life after being one-hit yesterday… and they still lost.

Despite the bats coming back to life after being held to one hit yesterday, the Colorado Rockies fell to the Minnesota Twins 6-3 on Sunday afternoon. A difficult outing for starting pitcher Ryan Feltner combined with a complete lack of success at situational hitting by the offense to seal the Rockies’ fates.

Feltner Falters

Ryan Feltner was looking to rebound after a tough start his last time out but was unable to find a groove. Feltner pitched four innings while getting bullied by the twins for five earned runs on eight hits and a walk. Feltner gave up three runs in the first inning after walking Byron Buxton and getting hit off of for four straight singles. Two more would score off of Feltner in the second inning, including Buxton hitting an RBI triple. Feltner cleaned it up for the third and fourth innings—the third being his only 1-2-3 frame—but the damage was done and he was pulled after 80 pitches. Austin Gomber entered the game in relief and pitched 2 ²⁄₃ innings of relief work. Gomber gave up one earned run on two hits with said run only coming with two outs in the seventh inning. Unable to tally the final out, Gomber gave way to Bob Stephenson, who quickly ended the inning. Stephenson ended up pitching 1 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings including two strikeouts.

failure to capitalize

The Rockies could have easily won this game with any modicum of successful situational hitting. Instead they walked away with just three runs despite 12 hits, two walks, and a hit batter. The Rockies were brutally just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men stranded on the bases. The team’s final real opportunity came with runners on first and second in the top of the eighth with no outs only for said runners to not even advance. Yonathan Daza ended the inning by grounding into a double play. The Rockies have one of the best team batting averages in baseball but struggle immensely to produce runs or even productive outs.

Positives at the Plate

Every single Rockies batter except Ryan McMahon had a hit today against the Twins. Four batters tallied 2-for-4 afternoons: CJ Cron, Brian Serven, Connor Joe, and Garrett Hampson. Cron had an RBI double in the first inning that plated the Rockies first run, He also put up the best fight against Twins fireballer closer Jhoan Duran. Cron worked a nine-pitch at-bat while seeing fastballs hitting 103 MPH and 90 MPH curveballs. Yonathan Daza and Connor Joe also hit doubles, with Daza’s being one the other successful at-bat with a runner in scoring position. The Rockies also kept themselves from striking out much with just six Ks on the day. Charlie Blackmon hit his 12th home run of the year—a solo shot in the third inning—on a 1-for-5 day and is just one home run away from tying his 2021 season total.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies return home tomorrow to kick of a long stretch of games against the National League West. They will start with a three game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, whomst they have not seen since Opening Day weekend. Chad Kuhl will start for the Rockies, while the Dodgers starter has yet to be announced. First pitch is at 6:40 PM MDT.