Rockies’ rally falls short in 7-6 loss to Phillies, who finish three-game sweep

The Rockies were on the cusp of the most incredible comeback since Rocky Balboa decked Clubber Lang.

An exaggeration? Of course. But the underdog Rockies only needed to land one more punch in Rocky’s City of Brotherly Love.

But, “Yo, Adrian,” it never came, and the Phillies escaped with a 7-6 win Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park to complete a three-game sweep. The Rockies, who finished 1-5 on their road trip, are 4-15 to begin the season — the worst start in franchise history.

In the ninth, the Rockies had the tying run at second base in pinch runner Nolan Jones, who was running for Elehuris Montero, who hit a two-out single off lefty Jose Alvarado. Jones swiped second base, but Alvarado got Sean Bouchard to pop out to second baseman Bryson Stott to save the game.

Colorado looked down for the count until it scored five runs in an eighth inning when Philly’s bullpen got wild. The rally included three walks and a clutch two-out, two-run single by Ezequiel Tovar off former Rockie Jeff Hoffman.

“That didn’t surprise me,” manager Bud Black told reporters. “This is a great group of competitors. We are falling short right now in the first three weeks of April. But the guys keep fighting.”

Still, the Rockies’ try-hard mentality and late-game heroics weren’t enough to overcome another stuttering start. This season, they have been outscored 29-5 in the first inning. And until their eighth-inning rally, they had scored just two runs over their last 38 innings.

“Tonight was another example of the chase coming back to haunt us,” Black said. “The chase rate is something we talked a lot about in spring training, and we started talking about it last September. It hasn’t come to fruition, as a group, in terms of laying off the low, breaking ball.”

Colorado’s 33% chase rate of balls outside the strike zone is the second-highest in the majors.

The funny thing is, Wednesday night, the Rockies led 1-0 after their first trip to the plate when Tovar singled and came around to score on Elias Diaz’s groundout to short.

Still, Colorado’s rare early lead didn’t hold because the Phillies scored four runs on five hits in the top of the frame off right-hander Ryan Feltner, and then rode an excellent start from left-hander Cristopher Sanchez and power surges by Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to take command.