Rockies, hurt by poor defense, lose to Reds, limp into All-Star break 22-74

The Rockies limped into the All-Star break in altogether fitting fashion.

Poor defense and a failure to deliver key hits, two characteristics that have plagued the club throughout its historically bad first half, again cost Colorado on Sunday in a 4-2 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds, hanging on to playoff hopes, improved to 50-47. More significantly, manager Terry Francona got his 2,000th career win, becoming just the 13th manager to reach the 2,000-win milestone.

The Rockies go on vacation carrying the baggage of a 22-74 record. Colorado’s 74 losses before the All-Star break are the most since 1933, the year of the first All-Star Game. Colorado surpassed the 2024 White Sox, who were 27-71 at the break.

The Rockies’ killer mistake came in the fifth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Noelvi Marte hit a routine chopper to rookie shortstop Ryan Ritter, but Ritter fumbled the ball and TJ Friedl scored from third, giving the Reds a 3-2 lead.

“You never like errors, but they are going to happen sometimes,” manager Warren Schaeffer told reporters in Cincinnati. ” ‘Ritt’ has been a really good shortstop for us since he’s been up. He just made an error in a really big spot today. I want that ball hit to him every time.”

Cincinnati tacked on a bonus run in the seventh on Spencer Steer’s RBI single off reliever Zach Agnos. All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz led off the inning with a double and advanced to third when Rockies second baseman Kyle Farmer committed another error. The Rockies’ 82 errors are the most in the majors, and their .977 fielding percentage is the worst.

The Rockies had seven hits but were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men stranded. In their 4-3 walk-off loss to Cincy on Saturday night, the Rockies were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t deliver the blow that we needed … no big hit today,” Schaeffer said, echoing a refrain that his predecessor, Bud Black, used repeatedly over the last several seasons. “Most of the year, that’s been an area that needs to be improved. We are going to see that through in the second half. That’s going to be a big focus area.”

On Sunday, Colorado’s two runs came in the third against Reds right-hander Nick Martinez. Farmer and Austin Nola opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Mickey Moniak came through with a two-out, two-run single. But Colorado’s offense sputtered from there.

Colorado lefty starter Austin Gomber did his job, though he needed 90 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings.

“I thought Gomber gave us enough to keep us in the game to win,” Schaeffer said.

Friedl led off the Reds’ first inning with a homer to right on Gomber’s belt-high, 2-1 fastball. But Gomber settled in and finished with a decent line: three runs (two earned) on six hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.