Rockies circus act stinks, embarrassed 17-2 by Brewers

DENVER — Rockies Report, Game 11:

ROCKIES BOTTOM LINE: Until the last two games, the Rockies had remained close during most of their defeats, but in this series with the Milwaukee Brewers, it’s gotten away from Colorado early and often.

The last two games were neatly encapsulated by a three-pitch sequence in the top of the ninth Wednesday night in which reliever Seth Halvorsen committed the beleaguered Rockies’ third error of the night by throwing the ball past Michael Toglia and down the right-field line, scoring two runs.

Two pitches later, Halvorsen served up a splitter over the heart of the plate that Christian Yelich crushed 465 feet into the waterfall among the evergreens beyond center field.

When Halvorsen finally retired a batter after six batters, three walks, a single, a home run and the afore-mentioned error, the few remaining from the announced crowd of 18,867 responded with a cheer dripping with sarcasm.

Just 11 games into the season, and that’s the mood at 20th and Blake as the Rockies sealed their fourth-straight series loss with a 17-2 debacle that dropped them to 2-9 — tied with the 2005 team for the worst record through 11 games in club history.

Halvorsen gave up 5 runs — 3 earned — as part of a 7-run ninth-inning barrage that turned a forgettable loss into a disaster.

A particularly distressing aspect of the game for the Rockies was the fact that two of their four errors were committed by their reigning Gold Glove winners — shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and center fielder Brenton Doyle.

“Uncharacteristic for us,” manager Bud Black said. “We’re used to really clean defensive games. That’s part of what we pride ourselves in. Tonight was not that night, for sure. You play 162 games during the course of a season. We’re not gonna have many games like that — if any, really.”

Black contrasted the defensive woes Wednesday with the gems turned in one of the Rockies’ two wins to this point, the second game of the season at Tampa Bay.

“I’d like to think our group is more like [Senzatela’s] game in Tampa than that game tonight,” Black said.

STARTER’S REPORT: The crazy thing is, Antonio Senzatela allowed fewer hits Wednesday night — eight — than he did in his first two starts, when he didn’t allow a single run in each of them.

But when two of the eight hits conceded sail over the fence — and do so with runners on base — well, you’ve got problems.

“The big blow got him,” Black said.

Returning home for his first Coors Field start of the year after two road starts in which he constantly danced around baserunners but didn’t allow a run, Senzatela’s reservoir of good fortune to start the season ran dry.

Most of the damage was done through a 2-run blast by William Contreras in the third inning and Jackson Chourio’s 3-run shot in the fifth. But Milwaukee also tagged Senzatela for a pair of doubles.

“High pitch to Chourio, high slider to Contreras came back to bite him,” Black said.

Senzatela was spotless in the first, third and fourth innings, but a leadoff double in the third and a leadoff single in the fifth caused problems. If not for a Garrett Mitchell baserunning blunder after his third-inning leadoff double, it would have been worse.

“They’re hot right now,” Senzatela said of the Brewers lineup, which has now scored at least seven runs in four-straight games and is averaging 5.5 runs per game. “If I make a mistake, they make me pay for [it].”

The home-road splits for Colorado’s starters early this season are staggering; their road ERA is 1.35; their Coors Field ERA is 8.06.

IT WAS DECIDED FOR THE ROCKIES WHEN: Chourio clubbed a 412-foot shot over the left-field fence in the top of the fifth inning, opening Milwaukee’s lead to 8-2. The Brewers tacked on two more runs before the inning ended and cruised home from there.


ROCKIES NUMBER TO NOTE: 3 — Errors by Tovar in 11 games this season, including a bobble in the fifth inning Wednesday. He committed just eight in his entire 2024 Gold Glove-winning campaign.

NOTABLE: Kris Bryant was dropped to seventh in the lineup after going hitless on , but went 2-for-4, including a double. Since getting back-to-back days off — including the home opener — Bryant has hit .294 with a pair of doubles, although he hasn’t walked … It was another lousy night for the Rockies with runners in scoring position; they went 1-for-8 … Ryan McMahon hit his second home run of the season.

Despite the lopsided score, there was a moment where the game could have gone in the other direction — and there was a turning point.

It came in the bottom of the second. With Colorado threatening with two on and two out, Brenton Doyle hit a line drive back up the middle — but Brewers pitcher Tyler Alexander deftly stuck his glove out and backhanded the ball for the third out. Milwaukee surged in front with four runs in the following inning.

ROCKIES UNIFORM: The most-often worn home uniform of a black hat with white pinstriped jersey and pants. Colorado dropped to 1-4 in this look.

WHAT’S NEXT: Colorado concludes the homestand with the series finale Thursday at 1:10 p.m. Ryan Feltner is expected to start for Colorado, with the Brewers projected to use Quinn Priester, whom they acquired from the Boston Red Sox on Monday to shore up a staff already battered by injuries.