On cue, that old Blackmon magic showed up Tuesday night at Coors Field, but the Rockies’ chances of beating the Cardinals disappeared with the return of late-inning pratfalls.
St. Louis scored a run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to turn a tight game into a 7-3 cruiser.
Colorado lost when leading after six innings for the 15th time this season (a 43-15 record), the second-most such losses in the National League behind the Mets (61-16).
A day after announcing his retirement, 14-year veteran Charlie Blackmon swung his magic wand and gave the Rockies a short-lived 3-2 lead in the fifth with an RBI triple into the right-center gap.
Blackmon is 38, but he still has the wheels of a much younger player, and he burned up the basepath on his way to third. The triple was Blackmon’s team-leading fifth of the season and the 68th of his career, the most in franchise history and the most among all active major leaguers.
Blackmon also led off the eighth with a double, but the Rockies failed to bring him home. Colorado has now scored three runs or fewer 34 times at home, extending a franchise record. The old mark was 31 times in 2011.
The Cardinals turned four hits and a walk into four runs in the eighth off right-handed relievers Angel Chivilli and Jake Bird. The clutch hits were RBI singles by Jordan Walker and Victor Scott off Chivilli and a two-run double by Masyn Winn off Bird.
“When you elevate the ball, you are putting yourself in danger,” Rockies manager Bud Black said, referring to Chivilli. “You look at the changeups to Walker and they were all elevated. That gave them the go-ahead run, at 4-3. And then they got the seeing-eye groundball from Scott — that’s baseball.”
St. Louis tied the game, 3-3, in a bizarre seventh inning.
Rockies starter Ryan Feltner, working on a fine game, left with cramping in his pitching arm while facing leadoff hitter Lars Nootbar. Feltner said after that game that he should be fine and expects to make his final start on Sunday in Colorado’s season finale against the Dodgers at Coors.
Right-hander Victor Vodnik replaced Felnter in the middle of the at-bat and walked Nootbar before striking out Walker.
Then pinch hitter Matt Carpenter crushed a double to right-center, advancing Nootbar to third. Winn hit a shot back to Vodnik, who caught Nootbar in a rundown, but the Rockies botched it when they failed to tag Nootbar and second baseman Aaron Schunk failed to cover the second-base bag. As Nootbar scampered back to third, Scott (pinch-running for Carpenter) scooted back from third base to second, and Winn ended up on first on a fielder’s choice.
The Cardinals then cashed in on Alex Burleson’s RBI groundout to short.
St. Louis struck first when they rocked Feltner for two runs on four hits in the third. Michael Siani led off with a single and stole second. Siani waltzed home on Winn’s two-run homer to left on Feltner’s hanging slider.
The inning could have gotten away from Feltner — he gave up a one-out single to Paul Goldschmidt and a two-out single to Brendan Donovan — but Feltner struck out Nolan Arenado and got Ivan Herrera to fly out to right to put down the St. Louis rally.
Feltner said he handles dangerous innings like that much better than he used to.
“Those are situations where offenses can get a little bit more aggressive, and I had the tools, but I just didn’t have the consistency or wherewithal in terms of where we are in the game,” Feltner said. “I need to know that I have to make a pitch here, or that this guy will be aggressive here. Little things like that add up, so just having been through those experiences has helped me.”
Colorado countered in the bottom of the third on Schunk’s solo homer off right-hander Michael McGreevy. It was Schunk’s second homer of the season. Schunk also hit an RBI infield single in the fifth, extending his hitting streak to six games. He’s batting .400 (10 for 25) through his last nine games.
Feltner made another quality start, his third straight in September. He pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He walked only two. He has a 2.22 ERA in September and has posted a 3.21 ERA through 14 starts since June 26.
“I have had a lot of help with (catcher Jacob) Stallings behind the plate, guiding me,” he said. “He’s helping me use my stuff in the best way possible. Also, I’m just feeling super sharp with all of my pitches and I’m able to land them or put them in the dirt for a chase. Throughout the season I think I’ve just gotten more sharp.”
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Cardinals RHP Erick Fedde (8-9, 3.38 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (5-11, 4.67)
6:40 p.m. Wednesday, 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
In Gomber’s final start of the season, the lefty will attempt to bounce back from one of the worst starts of his career. Facing Arizona at Coors Field, he allowed six runs (five earned) in just two innings. It was the shortest start of his season. Gomber, part of the 2021 trade that sent Nolan Arenado to St. Louis, is 1-1 with a 6.55 ERA in five career games (three starts) against the Cardinals. He received a no-decision in Colorado’s 8-5 loss at St. Louis on June 7, giving up four runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts over five innings.
Fedde will make his fifth career start (sixth appearance) vs. the Rockies but his first as a Cardinal. His previous outings came as a member of the Nationals. In his last start at Coors Field, on May 3, 2022, he limited Colorado to one run over seven innings in Washington’s 10-2 victory. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out three. In his start last Thursday, Fedde allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out three over six innings in a no-decision against the Pirates. It was the right-hander’s first quality start since Aug. 25 and just his second over his past 10 games.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Cardinals RHP Kyle Gibson (8-8, 4.13) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (5-8, 4.95), 1:10 p.m.
Friday: Dodgers TBA at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (8-10, 4.72), 6:10 p.m.
— Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
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