KANSAS CITY -- The Rockies¡¯ Mickey Moniak found himself a few feet from third base, with no way back on Tuesday night.
Moniak was picked off by Royals catcher Freddy Fermin to deflate a potential 10th-inning rally, and the third-longest road losing streak in club history extended to 11 games with a 4-3 loss in 11 innings.
It was tough for Moniak, signed just before the season after being released by the Angels, making the key mistake that sent the Rockies to a 4-18 record, with the past four losses decided by one run. Eight of Moniak¡¯s 13 hits this season have been for extra bases. His third-inning single Tuesday ended a streak of four extra-base hits -- two doubles and two home runs.
At some point, the Rockies insist, they¡¯ll find their way out of this struggle. Moniak believes that as much as anyone, even though his attempt to push the path to victory turned out to be merely a wrong turn.
The Rockies had runners at second and third with one out in the 10th, with Kyle Farmer -- one of their best hitters this season -- looking for the game-busting hit. Instead ¡
¡°I was going on contact,¡± Moniak said. ¡°I think he [Fermin] caught me leaning. It was an outside pitch and he reached for it and caught me in no man¡¯s land.
¡°We¡¯ve been in the last five games. The losses were decided by one run and the game we won [3-1 over the Nationals on Sunday], we won by two. We¡¯ve been in close games. It obviously sucks to be on the losing end, but these are learning moments. There¡¯s a lot of stuff to learn to make sure that we are on the winning end.¡±
Manager Bud Black said, ¡°It looked like to me Mickey was a little overzealous with the secondary lead. Really great throw from Fermin on a slider down and away out of the zone. It obviously caught Mickey by surprise.¡±
The game was full of twists and turns. For example:
? For 8 2/3 innings, the Rockies gave no indication they were about to do enough offensively to put themselves in position to win. Their starter, Ryan Feltner, went seven innings and held the Royals to three hits -- one a Drew Waters home run in the sixth. But before the ninth, the only Rockies runner to reach second base was Moniak, in the third inning. The Rockies managed four hits and struck out six times against Royals lefty starter Kris Bubic.
The struggling offense has been a theme throughout the road losing streak. In the 11 games, the hitters have slashed .182/.243/.279 for a .522 OPS, with just 22 extra-base hits. They¡¯ve struck out 31.2 percent of the time, against a 6.4 percent walk rate.
? But with two down in the ninth, the Rockies ended their doldrums. Royals closer Carlos Est¨¦vez walked Ryan McMahon, Hunter Goodman and Michael Toglia to set up Jacob Stallings¡¯ three-run double.
¡°The boys grinded, bit down on the leather, got in the box and just tried to work ABs,¡± Moniak said.
? In the bottom of the ninth, Rockies rookie closer Seth Halvorsen wasn't able to close out the victory. But he did extend the game by picking Maikel Garcia off second -- and even making the tag at second base. Garcia faked out Farmer in the basepath, but Halvorsen covered second and made the tag after a flip from Farmer.
The Rockies were in it until Fermin ended things with the walk-off single in the 11th.
The only longer road losing streaks were a 12-gamer that spanned Sept. 9, 2023-March 29, 2024, and a 13-game skid from May 10-June 2, 2006. The first step is eliminating mistakes like the ones that marred Tuesday¡¯s game. That could be the beginning of finding their way out of their struggles.
¡°It¡¯s a good sign, for sure, but you¡¯ve got to follow it up tomorrow and the next day and the day after that,¡± Black said of the team's fight.