Warren Schaeffer isn’t feeling any dissatisfaction after that one.
Prior to the matinee rubber match on Wednesday against Baltimore at Coors Field, the Rockies manager spoke at length about the frustration he’s been dealing with amid the club’s struggles in close games this season.
“What’s most frustrating for me is when you’re getting close, and (you keep) getting closer, but you’re still losing,” Schaeffer said. “But that is when you take the 1,000-foot view and you back up, and you look at last year compared to this year, and you look at where we’re going — you can see all the progress.
“You can see it that we’re in those games, and the enormous chasm between last year and this year. We’ve lost a ton of close ballgames this year. Last year we weren’t in (very many) close ball games. That in itself has been a step forward that we’re in them. Now we need to win them more, like we did (Tuesday) night.”
The Rockies did just that on Wednesday, rallying in the ninth and then again in the 11th to win the game on Brett Sullivan‘s two-out, two-strike, two-run walk-off single to take the game 6-5 as well as the series.
Two frames prior, Colorado was also down to its final out, but rookies Cole Carrigg and Zac Veen came through to tie the game and send it into extras. With two outs, Carrigg doubled, then Veen followed with a two-strike, pinch-hit double to tie the game 3-3.
Renck: Rockies’ Cole Carrigg can’t give fans the bird, but Colorado needs his edge to win
Colorado is now 28-41 in games decided by one or two runs this year. Despite that mark, Schaeffer says there is much more belief in this year's clubhouse than there was during last year's historic 119-loss season.
"(Our players) expect to win," Schaeffer said. "I don't know if that was always necessarily the case last year."
Wednesday's dramatics capped a strong series for the Rockies against Baltimore, who is in contention in the American League wild card race. It would've been a sweep for Colorado if not for a incredible web game in Monday's series opener.
The Rockies achieved franchise infamy that night with a record-setting 10th straight loss at Coors Field that came in brutal fashion. Colton Cowser robbed Jake McCarthy of a would-be two-run walk-off homer by leaping up and snaring McCarthy's hit that was headed over the center field wall.
WHEN COWS FLY
COLTON COWSER HOME RUN ROBBERY TO END IT!!
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles)
In a streak that began with a sweep by the Rays in early August, Colorado was also swept by the Dodgers and Guardians en route to Monday's record-setting 2-1 loss, which eclipsed the previous longest home defeat streak set by the inaugural 1993 squad at Mile High Stadium.
Colorado finally snapped that skid on Tuesday, using a two-run homer by TJ Rumfield in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie. Juan Mejia held the fort in the eighth and Jordan Romano recorded his 14th save in the ninth to cement the 4-2 win.
Rumfield's 14th homer continued his torrid debut season that has him in the conversation for NL Rookie of the Year, even as Reds corner infielder Sal Stewart is currently the Vegas favorite to win the award. Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt had been the frontrunner for most of the season, but has slumped in the second half and was earlier this week.
In terms of Rumfield versus Stewart comparison, the Rockies first baseman is slashing .290/.384/.443 with an .827 OPS, 14 homers, 26 doubles and 63 RBIs. Meanwhile, the all-star Stewart is slashing .268/.338/.489 with an identical .827 OPS, 31 homers, 25 doubles and an MLB-leading 105 RBIs.
While Rumfield has been impressive swinging the bat, his plate discipline also stands out. He's riding a 10-game on-base streak, and his 64 walks are four short of surpassing Dexter Fowler for the most walks by a rookie in franchise history. And there's still more room for improvement there, as Rumfield is swinging at 30.5% of pitches outside the zone, which ranks in the 41st percentile.
Following Rumfield and solid pitching lifting Colorado to the win in Game 2, in Wednesday's rubber match, it appeared the Rockies would revert back to this season's norm: unable to find a way to break through in tight games.
After forcing extras, Baltimore plated two in the top of the 11th to go ahead 5-3. Colorado responded with Rumfield's leadoff RBI single in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to a run.
Adael Amador nearly homered with two outs and Rumfield on first, but the ball came up just short of going out, then bounced over the wall and out of play for a ground-rule double. Had the ball stayed in play, Rumfield would've easily scored to tie the game.
But Sullivan came through the next at-bat with the game-ending heroics.
"Sometimes it doesn't go our way, and there's reasons for that... but today, the grind, the never-give-up, the amount of two-strike knocks... what a game," Schaeffer said. "That was awesome."
After an off day on Thursday, Colorado's homestand continues Friday with the start of a three-game series against the Cardinals. The Rockies (54-86) need to go 9-13 over their remaining 22 games to avoid a fourth consecutive 100-loss season.
