Jordan Beck has suddenly morphed into Mickey Mantle.
The 24-year-old slugging left fielder hit two home runs — he has five dingers in his last three games — and brought the Rockies to the brink of victory on a raw, drizzly Friday night at Coors Field.
Beck’s 437-foot solo shot off Tony Santillan in the eighth inning pulled Colorado to within a run. But it wasn’t enough as the Reds held on for an 8-7 win.
On a night when the Rockies’ offense finally heated up, pitching let them down, sending them to a fourth consecutive loss that left them with a 4-21 record. Colorado joined the 2022 Reds (3-22) as the only clubs in National League history to lose at least 21 of their first 25 games.
Beck, however, has turned things around after a tuneup at Triple-A.
“It’s a huge (confidence boost),” said Beck, who hit his first career homer at Coors. “I had a time in the minors when I kind of felt like this, too. It’s just about seeing how long you can do it, and keeping the same routine every day. Then keep stacking days.”
Said manager Bud Black: “Jordan’s been aggressive and he’s getting to the fastball. Tonight he (hit) a breaking ball, too, but I think it starts with commitment to the fastball.”
Cincinnati broke a 6-6 stalemate in the seventh, scoring two runs on one hit, a hit by pitch, three costly walks, and a throwing error by third baseman Ryan McMahon. Rockies veteran lefty Scott Alexander issued a base-loaded walk to Blake Dunn to score Spencer Steer with the go-ahead run. TJ Friedl followed with an RBI groundout to first to score Santiago Espinal from third.
At least the Rockies’ stalled offense finally got in gear. In addition to Beck’s two homers, Hunter Goodman doubled twice and walked twice, and Michael Toglia went 3 for 5 and delivered two clutch hits.
“Hopefully, this is a little momentum for Mike,” Toglia said. “I know that he’s constantly working to get out of this funk. I’m not sure, specifically, if there is anything distinct (that he’s done).”
In a three-run third inning that tied the game 3-3, the Rockies put together the kind of inning that has eluded them most of the season. Beck led off with a 404-foot homer to left off lefty starter Andrew Abbott.
Sean Bouchard dumped a single to right, Goodman and Mickey Moniak drew walks to load the bases for Toglia, who came to the plate with a .154 average with runners in scoring position. He came through with a two-out, two-run, ground-rule double to left center.
The Rockies rallied again with two runs in the fifth, tying the game 6-6. Doubles by Goodman and Jacob Stallings, Toglia’s RBI single and a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Brenton Doyle got Colorado back in the game.
Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland made his 206th career start, tying him with Aaron Cook for the most in franchise history. It was a forgettable start, partly Freeland’s own doing and partly misfortune.
“There was a good amount of (misfortune), but I wasn’t as sharp as I could be tonight — at all,” Freeland said. “But there was a lot of stuff that got through holes and a lot of weak contact. It kind of felt like I got dinked and dunked in some places and then gave up some hard hits.”
Freeland gave up a season-high six runs on a season-high 10 hits, including a two-run homer to Steer in the Reds’ three-run third.
Several of the Reds’ hits were seeing-eye singles. In Cincinnati’s two-run fifth, Espinal squeaked an RBI single past second baseman Adael Amador, who tried to avoid contact with the Reds’ Noelvi Marte, who was running from first to second.
Amador should have gone directly for the ball, and if Marte ran into him, Marte would have been called out for obstruction.
“I haven’t looked at (the play), but in real time it looked as though Amador might have swerved a touch and might not have gotten a good read on the ball,” Black said. “It’s (his) right to go for the ball.”
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Reds RHP Hunter Greene (2-2, 2.35 ERA) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (1-3, 4.81)
1:10 p.m. Saturday, Coors Field
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
Trending: Rockies relievers entered Friday night’s game with a 2.03 ERA and 46 strikeouts, while limiting opponents to a .201 batting average, over the last 13 games. That was the fourth-lowest bullpen ERA in the majors over that span.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (2-2, 2.79) at Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (0-1, 3.86), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Braves TBD at Rockies RHP German Marquez (0-4, 9.30), 6:40 p.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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