The Rockies lost a game in unreal fashion, but quietly had a good road trip
Jun 13, 2022, 11:44 AM
The Rockies almost never win in San Francisco and San Diego.
At least it feels that way.
But while the city of Denver focuses on the Stanley Cup Final (rightfully so) and Broncos’ mandatory minicamp, the Rockies quietly had a successful road trip out West this past week. Colorado took a three-game set from the Giants and split a four-game series with the Padres, heading back home with a respectable 4-3 record.
The wins Saturday night and Sunday afternoon in San Diego were particularly impressive, with Kyle Freeland and German Marquez both delivering solid starts and Ryan McMahon coming up with a huge two RBI double in the eighth inning to seal a 4-2 victory on Sunday.
With the Rockies, though, there’s always going to be some bad that comes along with the good and what happened on Saturday afternoon, in the first game of a doubleheader, was a very “Rockie” way to lose. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Padres star Manny Machado was on second base with two outs. Colorado had a very good chance to send the game to the 11th inning, but then this happened…
A wild pitch + E2 for the walk-off pic.twitter.com/FanehlIZRk
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) June 12, 2022
That’s Carlos Estevez on the mound for the Rockies throwing the pitch in the dirt. With two outs, Machado getting third base isn’t that big of a deal, but Colorado catcher Elias Diaz made the ill-advised throw anyhow. It was a bad one, but still one McMahon could’ve kept in front of him and didn’t. The result was Machado scoring from second on a ball that was never even put into play and a 2-1 Rockies loss.
Again, the road trip was a success overall, but the Rockies can’t lose games like that. Not when their record is now 27-34 and they sit seven games out of a wild card spot in the National League. With this team you’re going to have some ups and downs, with the ups worth celebrating, and the downs being cringeworthy.
A 4-3 stretch in California is something the Rockies will absolutely take, but it could’ve been 5-2 if not for a little league type play in a brutal loss.
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