Unlucky 13: Rockies drop doubleheader, swept by Royals

The Rockies have now lost 13 in a row on the road

Game 1: Royals 7, Rockies 4

The Rockies lost the first game of the doubleheader, dropping their 12th straight game on the road as the offense stalled and the starting pitching couldn’t find solid footing.

Welcome Back, Brenton Doyle

The Rockies have missed the presence of Brenton Doyle in the lineup. At the top of the order, he’s been a key figure as one of the only bats working for the offense and he didn’t miss a beat in his first start since going down with a quad injury and spending time on the bereavement list.

In his first at-bat, he drew a lead-off walk, eventually coming around to score to give the Rockies an early 1-0 lead. He later drew another walk to lead off the fifth but was quickly erased on a double-play ball. Still, in his return, he went 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout, and it was good to see him back in action.

1,000 for Márquez

It was a shaky day for Germán Márquez as he looked to bounce back against the Royals. He struggled to find his command early on in the first inning. Maikel Garcia led things off with a double before Márquez plunked Bobby Witt Jr. to put runners on first and second. He then allowed a one-out double to Salvador Perez to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. Márquez then gave up a single to Cavan Biggio and later walked Hunter Renfroe, but did manage to escape the inning with a fly out of Drew Waters.

He bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning, but the shakiness returned in the third after the Rockies got him a 4-2 lead. Perez hit a one-out double and scored on a Michael Massey single to make it a one-run game, followed by back-to-back singles from Renfroe and Waters to tie the game once again. Again, Márquez got out of the inning and rebounded with a 1-2-3 fourth, but walked the first two hitters of the fifth before coming out of the game. Those two runs would come around to score on a ball that kicked off the glove of Michael Toglia on a diving attempt.

Márquez left the game after four innings, giving up six runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He now has a 9.30 ERA on the season. His three strikeouts were notable, as his third and final strikeout of Vinny Pasquantino to end the fourth marked the 1,000-career strikeout of his career. He is the first Rockies pitcher to reach the mark, extending his franchise record, and is just the 13th Venezuelan-born pitcher in MLB history to reach 1,000 strikeouts.

Goodman and Beck, Attorneys at Law

The Rockies didn’t get much offense on the day from the lineup, but Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck provided all four of the Rockies’ hits.

Goodman put together a quality at-bat in the top of the first, resulting in a single that he hooked into left field to score Doyle and get the Rockies on the board first.

Trailing in the top of the second with two outs, Beck blasted his first home run of the season to left field to tie the game up.

Not to be outdone, Goodman stepped up to the plate with a runner on first and blasted a two-out, two-run home run to left field, just catching the ball at the front of the plate. He ended the day with three RBI and gave the Rockies a 4-2 lead at the time.

Beck’s second hit was a single in the fourth, the final hit for the Rockies, as they mustered just one other baserunner the rest of the game.

The Royals, on the other hand, had 13 hits in the game, scoring six off of Márquez and adding one more against Jimmy Herget in the seventh.

Hey, at least they didn’t strike out a ton.

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Game 2: Royals 6, Rockies 2

Chase Dollander continued to give up hits, the offense was quite outside of Jordan Beck and the Rockies lost their 13th straight on the road.

Beck Blasts

The Rockies might have lost two games, but it was a great day for a doubleheader for Beck. Building off his first homer of the season in game one, Beck hit his second and third in game two. He finished the day going 4-fo-6 with three solo shots, one walk and one strikeout. Beck became only the second Rockie all-time to hit three homers in a doubleheader, joining the company of Hall of Famer Larry Walker.

Beck’s second blast of the day and first of game two flew 399 feet to center field.

His second homer of game two to complete the trifecta on the day traveled 425 feet at 106.5 mph to center field, allowing Beck ample time to admire the bomb.

Dollander Dinged

Dollander dropped to 1-3 on the season and his ERA jumped to 7.91 as he recorded another rough start. Despite posting two scoreless frames and striking out three, he gave up five runs on seven hits, proving his struggles to fool hitters. Finding ways to get out of jams, Dollander managed to only give up two runs through the first four innings. The trouble came in the fifth when, after recording two outs, Dollander gave up a double to Jonathan India and a single to Bobby Witt Jr. Things got worse when he walked Vinnie Pasquantino and a wild pitch moved Witt Jr. to third and Pasquantino to third. Salvador Perez then hit two-run double, his second RBI double of the day, to make it 5-0. That forced Dollander out of the game after 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

Better Bullpen and an MLB Debut

Jaden Hill entered the fifth inning with a runner on second and two outs, and despite giving up a walk, escaped without more damage. He walked another Royal in the sixth, but struck out three more to put up 1 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings with no hits, four strikeouts and two walks. Zach Agnos kept his ERA at 0.00 in his second inning of MLB work, giving up one hit but no runs.

Juan Mejia, who was called up before the game as the 27th man on the doubleheader roster, entered the game in the ninth inning. The 24-year-old out of the Dominican Republic showed grit after giving up a single to Michael Massey to start the inning. Massey then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error from Jacob Stallings. Mejia then got a line out and a ground out, which scored Massey for an unearned run, and struck out Freddy Fermin looking on a slider for his first MLB strikeout.

Offensive Struggles Continue

The Rockies struck out nine times, led by Ryan McMahon, who had three in a 0-for-5 performance. Stallings and Aaron Schunk each added two hits, but the Rockies left 10 runners on base, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

The Rockies threatened in the ninth when Schunk and Brenton Doyle hit back-to-back singles with one out. The Rockies couldn’t move them over, though, as Sean Bouchard lined out and McMahon grounded out.

Up Next

The Rockies head back home to Coors Field to kick off a new homestand on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves. Kyle Freeland will face off against Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. MDT.

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