The Rockies’ first winning series of the season was at their fingertips. But in a season that’s been so impossibly bad, the predictable happened.
The Yankees beat them, 5-4, on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon at Coors Field to clinch the three-game series. Colorado fell to 9-44, continuing the worst start in the majors’ modern era (since 1901).
When the sun shone late, Mickey Moniak led off the bottom of the ninth with a 417-foot homer to right off Luke Weaver, making many of the Rocky Mountain Yankees fans squirm in their seats. And when Adael Amador blooped a one-out single to left and Jordan Beck followed with a single to right, Colorado was set up for a walk-off win.
But Weaver won a seven-pitch battle with Ezequiel Tovar and got him to fly out to right field. Weaver then got Hunter Goodman to tap the ball back to the mound for the final out.
“I got a good fastball to hit,” Moniak said after hitting his fourth home run of the season. “(Weaver) is having a hell of a year, and he was really good last year. I went up there leading off the inning, looking for a fastball to hit. I was able to do that, and I put a good swing on it.
“You saw it in that last inning. We put ourselves in a good position to tie the game and potentially go ahead. Obviously, it didn’t fall our way today. … We were one hit away.”
The Rockies’ losing formula was familiar. They struck out 13 times and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position — fatal flaws in a close game.
“We are getting closer, in terms of conversations about the process we’re having, but that needs to be put into play,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “The results are not there yet.
“This has been a consistent theme for us. We started the game playing good baseball, in that first inning, but in the middle innings, the pitcher kind of adjusts to us, and he starts going soft, away. We need to make adjustments, to punch back.”
Colorado cut New York’s lead to 4-3 in the sixth with key, two-out hits — a single by Ryan McMahon and an RBI double by Brenton Doyle. The Yankees countered with a crucial run in the eighth. Jasson Dominguez coaxed a one-out walk out of reliever Tyler Kinley and stole second base. J.C. Escarra delivered a two-out single to drive in Dominguez to give New York a 5-3 lead.
Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela wasn’t blown off the mound, a la Charlie Brown, but the Yankees knocked him around for four runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four. After 11 starts, he’s 1-9 and owns a 6.50 ERA.
Schaeffer liked Senzatela’s curveball and changeup and said the veteran right-hander gave Colorado a chance to win. Senzatela would have pitched through five innings and possibly pitched in the sixth if the rain had not come.
A one-hour, 46-minute delay began with two outs in the top of the fifth.
The Yankees scored twice before the cloudburst to stake a 4-2 lead. Paul Goldschmidt singled off Senzatela, and Ben Rice drew a walk. On came right-hander Jake Bird, Colorado’s most reliable reliever, but Aaron Judge punched an RBI double into the left-field corner, Cody Bellinger drew another walk, and Dominguez lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
Senzatela wished he’d pitched better, noting that Goldschmidt’s leadoff hit and Rice’s walk “put my team in a bad situation right there.”
“But my changeup was there and my curveball was there and we executed a lot of good pitches,” Senzatela said. “I had some bad luck with a couple of hits, but it is what it is.”
The Yankees struck quickly against Senzatela, combining a leadoff single by Goldschmidt, a one-out single by Judge and an RBI groundout by Bellinger to take a 1-0 lead.
The Rockies immediately countered against Yankees right-hander Will Warren. Jordan Beck led off with a double, Tovar singled, and Goodman walked to load the bases. Beck scored on a wild pitch, and Tovar scored on McMahon’s groundout to first to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
But the Rockies’ hopes for a big inning fizzled when Warren struck out Doyle and Michael Toglia grounded out to short.
The Rockies headed to Chicago after the game to begin their longest road trip of the season, a 10-day, nine-game journey that begins Monday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Colorado faces the Cubs three times, has an off day on Thursday, plays three games in Queens against the Mets, and concludes the trip with a three-game series at Miami.
The Rockies hit the road with a 3-22 record away from Coors Field.
Monday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Carson Palmquist (0-2, 11.88 ERA) at Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (3-3, 4.13)
12:20 p.m. Monday, Wrigley Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region); KUSA-9; KTVD-20.
Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM
Trending: The Rockies finished their homestand Sunday with a 5-4 loss to the Yankees, concluding the seven-game set with a 1-6 record. They have now lost 17 consecutive series to begin the season, extending their franchise record.
Pitching probables
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Germán Márquez (1-7, 7.66) at Cubs RHP Cade Horton (2-0, 4.40), 6:05 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (1-1, 4.38) at Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd (4-2, 3.42), 6:05 p.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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