The final line won’t show it, but Tanner Gordon nearly worked a storybook outing in his MLB debut. There was no sugarcoating a dismal day for the Colorado Rockies offense and bullpen, however.
Brady Singer quieted the Colorado bats, and the Kansas City Royals avoided a weekend sweep Sunday afternoon at Coors Field with a 10-1 victory in front of 32,180.
Gordon pounded the strike zone, which helped him work efficiently but may have also cost him a quality start. His final line: Five runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. His performance was a reminder of the thin margins that come with pitching at this ballpark.
The 26-year-old Gordon threw just 16 balls in his 78 pitches. He had four strikeouts and no walks.
“There were a lot of good things to draw from (Gordon’s start),” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He was attacking the zone. He wasn’t picking at the corners, wasn’t nibbling. He was aggressive with his stuff.
“That’s an outstanding ball-strike ratio. A ton of strikes.”
Kansas City did all the damage necessary in the second inning. Gordon allowed back-to-back-to-back singles, only one of which was hit particularly hard to yield the first run.
The big moment came on a 1-2 pitch to Maikel Garcia. Gordon threw Garcia a changeup at the bottom of the strike zone, but the Royals third baseman put it off the top of the fence and into the left-field seats for a three-run homer and a 4-0 advantage.
Beyond the second inning, Gordon was nearly flawless until the seventh. There were a few hard-hit balls right at Rockies defenders, but Gordon yielded only two singles — an infield hit and a weak-contact blooper to right field over the next four frames.
Gordon went back out for the seventh, but an MJ Melendez solo homer to right field and a bunt single ended his day with one out.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Gordon, who had more than 30 friends and family members in attendance. “After I threw the first pitch, all the nerves kind of settled and I was able to go out there and throw as many strikes as I could.”
Singer, a first-round pick by Kansas City in the 2018 draft in the midst of his best season with the Royals, cruised through six innings before also running out of gas in the seventh.
Nolan Jones singled home Jake Cave to break up the shoutout, but Aaron Schunk’s long fly ball to left field with two runners on landed in Melendez’ glove just short of the wall. Singer’s final line was one run allowed on six hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Colorado put two runners on twice early in the game but Singer worked out of it.
“Those offensively were the keys to the game for us,” Black said. “If we get a little something there, it changes the whole direction of the game. But we didn’t.”
One of those rallies died with back-to-back strikeouts for Charlie Blackmon and Ezequiel Tovar. It was another long day at the plate for Tovar, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
He finished the homestand hitless in 24 at-bats with 11 strikeouts.
“We talk it about all the time — peaks and valleys,” Black said. “This is a valley for (Tovar). Usually with him, it’s too much of the expansion of the strike zone. … That’s his challenge moving forward is cutting down the chase, especially the breaking ball down and away.”
Once the potential rally in the seventh was thwarted, the Royals blew it open against the beleaguered Rockies bullpen. Bobby Witt Jr. provided an exclamation point with a three-run homer to left in the ninth.
The Rockies added Gordon to the 40-man roster Sunday and designated Dakota Hudson for assignment after the offseason signing was 2-12 with a 5.84 ERA in 17 starts. Gordon was 2-3 with a 6.15 ERA in seven starts for Albuquerque (AAA) before the call up.
Colorado acquired Gordon, along with reliever Victor Vodnik, from Atlanta for pitcher Pierce Johnson last July. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft and made nearly 100 appearances in the minors before his big-league dream came true.
“Taking the mound, walking off the mound and then seeing family and friends on the field … I was holding back some tears,” Gordon said. “It was awesome.”
NOTE: Ryan McMahon was named to the National League All-Star team shortly after the game. It is the 29-year-old McMahon’s first all-star nod. He leads the Rockies with 14 home runs, 45 runs batted in and an .805 OPS.
Monday’s pitching matchup
Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-7, 5.60 ERA) at Reds LPH Andrew Abbott (8-6, 3.28)
5:10 p.m. Monday, Great American Ball Park
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Feltner’s search for consistency continues as he makes his 18th start of the season. He’ll be facing the Reds for the second time. They ripped into him on June 3 at Coors Field when Feltner gave up a career-high eight runs on eight hits in the Reds’ 13-3 victory. The right-hander pitched well in his last three road starts, posting a 1.04 ERA with 15 strikeouts vs. just four walks. Since getting blasted by Cincy, Feltner has pitched to a 4.18 ERA across five starts.
Abbott has won three consecutive games and come out on top in five of his last six starts. In his last outing, he beat the Yankees in the Bronx, giving up one run on three hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings. In two previous starts vs. Colorado, he’s 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA.
Pitching probables
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (6-6, 3.77) at Reds RHP Frankie Montas (4-6, 4.19), 5:10 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 6.62) at Reds Carson Spiers (2-2, 3.64), 5:10 p.m.
Thursday: Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (2-5, 4.47) at Reds RHP Hunter Greene (5-4, 3.45), 11:10 a.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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