DENVER -- Rockies left-handed pitcher Ty Blach gave up four runs and 10 hits in five innings -- not the stuff of headlines, but the kind of start that can win a game at Coors Field. But Cincinnati's Frankie Montas held the offense hitless until the seventh inning, and the Rockies lost their fourth straight, 4-1, at Coors Field on Tuesday night.

Here are three takeaways from the contest:

Montas dominated a team that has lost the mojo of last month
Montas struck out nine. The Rockies hit just two balls into the outfield until Elias D¨ªaz doubled to open the seventh.

"He stayed out of the heart of the plate, and even then he came around the middle of the plate, he did a good job keeping it up,¡± said Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, who had two of his three strikeouts come against Montas. ¡°When a guy's throwing 97 [mph] with a good mix of pitches, that's a tough one to cover.

¡°The thing I struggled with, and I thought I saw some of my teammates struggle with, [Montas] was changing the shape on his sliders -- as a cutter, he could throw it as a normal one, as a bigger one. They were all coming out looking pretty similar. You've got to tip your cap to him.¡±

After a rough April and early May, the Rockies¡¯ offense picked up as the team won 13 of 20 through Friday night¡¯s 4-1 victory at Dodger Stadium. But during the current four-game losing streak, the Rockies have been shut out once and scored one run twice.

¡°These four games, we haven¡¯t swung the bats great,¡± manager Bud Black said. ¡°We¡¯ve pitched good enough to hang in there except for [Monday] night. It¡¯s just a little bit of a pretty bad stretch here. We¡¯ve got to get out of it.¡±

Blach doesn¡¯t scare off from contact, although it doesn¡¯t always work
In his last start, a home win over the Guardians, Blach had a season-high five strikeouts but for the most part pitched to contact. Nothing changed Tuesday.

Some contact, like Spencer Steer¡¯s first-inning RBI double and Elly De La Cruz¡¯s third-inning homer, were launched. Others, not so much.

¡°That¡¯s the nature of the game as a contact pitcher,¡± Blach said. ¡°Sometimes the ball gets hit at guys and sometimes it doesn¡¯t. Sometimes plays get made and sometimes they don¡¯t.¡±

Blach (2-3) lost. But unlike Monday¡¯s 13-3 loss to the Reds when Ryan Feltner¡¯s worst results came with two outs and multiple runners on base, Blach kept the score close.

It could have been closer. The Rockies had an unsuccessful replay challenge on a pickoff attempt aimed at Tyler Stephenson, who opened the fourth with a double. No runs were in and two were out when Luke Maile lined one that diving right fielder Hunter Goodman caught ¨C but the Rockies didn¡¯t have a challenge anymore.

The play was ruled no catch, and Maile had an RBI single ¨C one of two Reds runs that inning.

Is the bullpen improving?
Right-hander Matt Carasiti benefited from strong throws from first baseman Elehuris Montero and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar on a 3-6-1 double play ¨C against the speedy De La Cruz ¨C in the sixth, the first of his two scoreless innings. Tyler Kinley and Nick Mears threw a clean inning apiece.

Blach was the only starter in this four-game skid to complete five innings. Yet, three of the games were winnable. It¡¯s a small step forward for a bullpen that has labored this season.

¡°The trick out of the bullpen is to get guys rolling where they have consecutive outings where they put zeros up ¨C and I¡¯m not talking just two or three ¨C how about five, six, seven, eight outings in a row where nobody scores?¡± Black said. ¡°That¡¯s the challenge for these guys and I think they¡¯re up to it."