Colorado Rockies morning after: 3 things to like from Diamondbacks series

The Colorado Rockies ended Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen’s Major League-leading string of 44.1 scoreless innings Sunday afternoon.

In addition, Ryan McMahon of the Colorado Rockies slammed his third home run in the last three games.

But, beyond that, there was not a lot to boast about in Colorado’s 12-6 loss to the Diamondbacks in the finale of a three-game set between the National League West Division rivals on a sunny, 71-degree afternoon at Coors Field

Colorado Rockies hurlers allowed a plethora of Arizona hitters to reach base Sunday.

In the setback, which left the Rox with a 4-2 record for the homestand, Arizona battered seven Colorado pitchers for 15 hits while drawing nine walks from Colorado’s mound corps.

In addition, the D-backs, who snapped a four-game losing streak, netted a season-high six stolen bases, including a steal of home on a botched Rockies rundown. The six steals match the most for a Major League team in 2022.

Meanwhile, the loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Rox (61-80) although Colorado claimed a series win against the Diamondbacks (66-73) by winning games on Friday and Saturday.

Interestingly, the Rockies captured a series win despite Arizona scoring double-digit runs in two of the three contests. The Rockies took the series opener Friday by a 13-10 count before surrendering a dozen runs Sunday.

The nine walks surrendered by Colorado pitchers drew the attention of manager Bud Black, a former Major League pitcher himself.

“I think that was probably the biggest ugliness, especially against this team (Arizona), which has some speed on the bases,” he told media in his postgame press conference. “They can apply some pressure on you.”

And the D-backs did just that — to the tune of a perfect 6-for-6 performance in stolen bases.

Included in the dirge of swiped bases was Sergio Alcantara’s steal of home to cap a four-run third inning. Alcantara actually got hung up between third base and home while teammate Daulton Varsho was trying to steal second base. But Rockies third baseman Elehuris Montero and catcher Brian Serven could not properly execute a putout on the rundown and Alcantara managed to score on a hook slide of home.

Starting pitcher Ryan Feltner (2-8) issued four of his team’s walks in 2.2 innings on the mound. All four walks came in the third inning when the D-backs sent 10 hitters to the plate to score four runs for a 4-0 lead they never relinquished.

“I think not getting the ball in the strike zone, first, that’s the primary issue,” Black said about Feltner’s control problems. “I think there were a number of pitches that were — what is the words we have used often — ‘not competitive.’ (They were) just too far out of the strike zone. The hitters never really had to worry about them. The ball was not close. Once that happens, the hitters, I think, sort of gain an advantage because they can zero in a little bit.”

Feltner has now dropped four straight starts while losing five consecutive decisions.

“I’d have to go back and look at the video, as far as mechanics go, but the ball didn’t feel great in my hand today,” the second-year right-hander said. “It was just a bad day. Just one of those days.”

Despite the less-than-three inning outing, Feltner thinks he is continuing to make improvement after his 15th start of the season.

“At the beginning, it was one step forward, one step back,” he said. “Now it feels like two steps forward, one step back. So, I think I am making progress. Today just, again, was a bad day.”

McMahon and Yonathan Daza each had two hits while C.J. Cron lined an RBI single in the fourth inning to drive in McMahon for Colorado’s first run and end Gallen’s scoreless streak at 44.1 innings.

Despite the loss, here are 3 things to like from the Diamondbacks series:

1. The long ball returns for the Rox: With McMahon’s 16th homer of the season on Sunday, Colorado finished with seven homers in the series, including a season-high five roundtrippers in the come-from-behind 13-10 victory Friday. The Rox ended the six-game homestand with 14 homers. The team has yet to record a grand slam this season.

2. Rox display never-day-die attitude: Both Colorado triumphs against Arizona were come-from-behind affairs. The Rockies trailed by two in the win on Friday and by one run in a 4-1 decision Saturday. Three of the team’s four wins In the homestand came by rallying from behind.

3. Rookies continue to impress: With the regular season winding down, rookies Montero, Michael Toglia and Sean Bouchard are seeing ample playing opportunities and are taking advantage of those chances. Montero had a two-run double off Gallen on Sunday and a pair of hits Saturday. Toglia amassed two hits and an RBI while scoring three runs Friday along with a run-producing groundout Sunday. Bouchard notched his first multi-hit game with two singles on Saturday.

After a day off from action Monday, Colorado travels to the Windy City to open a two-game set with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. (Mountain time). Chad Kuhl (6-8, 5.38 earned run average) is slated to get the starting nod for the Rox to be opposed by Chicago’s Michael Kopech (4-9, 3.78).